The Sky is the Limit
by TheCandyConjurer
Summary: What happens to the Vongola after the Future arc. They find new allies, new enemies and unravel new mysteries.
1. Introduction

**Hiyas! CandyConjurer here with my latest fanfic project. Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. It belongs to (Akira Amano?) Well, it belongs to someone. This was written purely for entertainment.**

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Chapter 1

Introduction

Namimori Town was a fine place to live in. The air was clean, the grass was green and the people were friendly. There was little pollution but the town was industrialized enough that it had an airport, a seaport and some tall buildings. The streets were well kept and clean. There were rarely any accidents and the jail was rarely full because crimes were rare. To the ordinary viewer, it was just your average town with no strange occurrences whatsoever. But of course, Namimori was no ordinary town. Maybe the things, the structures and the small forests were but there were some people here who led extraordinary lives.

The Sawada residence was also like the other houses in Namimori. It was simple and made up of two floors and had a decent size. For a small house like this, there were actually several occupants. They were a boy and his mother, three infants, a child and another adult. A passerby in the morning might hear the people there bickering and shouting at each other. Some lucky ones could hear the sound of gunshots, explosions and crying. The even luckier ones could see a boy run out in the streets and running quickly while wearing boxers.

Today was a perfectly normal day like any other.

Inside the house, the time is 5:59 AM. A minute later, the alarm clock rings. The boy who lived in the second floor reached for the alarm and put it off. He woke up while rubbing his eyes and folded his sheets. He was greeted by an infant in a suit with a fedora and a chameleon on his hat.

"Good morning Reborn."

"Good morning No-Good Tsuna."

Tsuna sighed. _We just came back from the future yesterday. After that, I promised him that I'd become Vongola Decimo. But does he still have to insult me over and over. _(Sighs again.) _If only everyone knew what kind of life I really led…_

"Well, it's not like everyone can know about everything, the consequences would be dire."

_Oh right, you can read minds._

"And here's for forgetting."

Reborn attempted to kick Tsuna at the back of his head. _Think again Reborn._ Tsuna dodged the kick quickly. Reborn landed on the bed and kicked his student at the back, hard. Tsuna swore his spine would break.

"You're gonna have to do better than that Tsuna. What if the Varia suddenly decided to kill you in your sleep huh? What would you do?"

"Well, it's not like something bad is going to happen yet. My intuition doesn't sense anything."

"In the world of mafia, you can never be too careful, you know?"

Tsuna nodded. He glanced at the clock which read 6:05.

"Reborn, aren't we supposed to be training?"

"We are. As soon as you get dressed."

Tsunayoshi Sawada was a 16 year old kid. He was a brunette and had small brown eyes. He was short for a kid of his age, about 5 ft. He wasn't that athletic, nor did he have good grades. He was often called No-Good Tsuna at school. Everyone thought that Tsuna was just an ordinary kid who lived his life like any normal person. But in reality, Tsuna was something more. He was wearing jogging pants, white rubber shoes and a sweater. It had become their daily routine with Reborn to run around town at least once at 6:00 AM to exercise and increase his stamina. Tsuna complained at first but eventually he got used to it. Sometimes, he actually enjoyed it. Their usual route started with Tsuna's house, then the underground mall at the center of town, the docks, the airport and finally back to Tsuna's house. They usually reached the house by 7:00 and then Tsuna would begin fixing his belongings for school. The day was a Tuesday.

Around 7:15 when he had completely fixed himself, he went down to the kitchen and saw that food was already prepared. Four people were seated there at the time. The first was a young lady with reddish pink hair and green eyes. She was quite tall and wore a blue shirt with light brown trousers. The next one was a child with brown hair and he wore a brown school uniform similar to Tsuna's. Next to him was a young girl dressed in a red Chinese outfit who had slits for eyes and she had her black hair tied in a ponytail. Then there was Reborn, wearing his mafia suit as usual.

"Good morning Tsu-kun!" said a woman at the table, cooking and serving those seated with rice and occasionally adding food to their plate.

The door to the kitchen opened with a bang and from there a child wearing a cow suit came in the room. He was carrying two pink grenades on his hands, clearly not your average child.

"I'm gonna get you this time Reborn!" he shouted. "Die!"

As the cow child was about to throw grenades at Reborn, the chameleon on Reborn's fedora transformed into a baseball glove. The grenades flew through the air heading for Reborn. Reborn caught each grenade and threw it back at the cow child. Both grenades hit him squarely on the chest and he was catapulted through the air by so much force. The door closed and an explosion was heard from outside.

"My, my Lambo-kun. Today's toys are quite realistic indeed. Why that explosion even sounded like it was real." Commented the woman.

"Okaa-san…" Tsuna sweatdropped at her comment. _It was real._

"Oishi! This is delicious kaa-san!" remarked the boy.

"I-pin agrees!" said the young Chinese girl.

"Arrigato Fuuta-kun. Ipin-chan." Remarked Tsuna's mother.

"Nana-san, I'll be going out to collect some ingredients for the party next week." Said the seated woman.

"Thank you Bianchi-san!"

"Maman, what party?" asked Reborn.

"Well, it's Iemitsu's birthday next week!" answered the older lady.

(Flashback)

_It was sunset. My husband, Iemitsu was leaving and going to a trip abroad._

"_Nana. You like romantic men right?" asked Iemitsu. Nana nodded._

"_Tell our child that I disappeared alright?"_

Nana returned from her flashback. Then she began to cook like crazy, totally un-mindful of her sweatdropped.

"So he's coming back ey?" said Bianchi. Nana carelessly nodded to reply. After which, breakfast continued with almost no interruptions or conversation between the people. Occasionally Reborn would try to steal Tsuna's breakfast but after a few months of this kind of treatment Tsuna blocked Reborn's chopstick with his own much to Reborn's dismay.

"So you finally blocked my attacks?"

"You said it yourself that mafioso constantly live around danger. So I sharpened my reflexes and did a little practice to block that. Besides, it's been months since I last ate breakfast."

"True, true. Well done Dame Tsuna."

Tsuna continued eating his breakfast silently. After a while Lambo entered the scene.

"Gotta… Stay… Calm…" was all he could say before fainting. Fuuta carried him upstairs.

At 7:30, Tsuna left the house. There he saw two teens, both taller than him arguing. Of course, it was the usual routine.

"Didn't I tell you to stop following me?!" said the first angrily.

"It can't be helped. We have the same route to school after all." replied the second cheerily.

"Yamamoto-kun! Gokudera-kun!" called Tsuna.

"Ossu, Tsuna!"

"Ohayo Tenth!"

Gokudera had silvery white hair. He had silvery green eyes and pale skin. Yamamoto in contrast had black hair and tanned skin with amber eyes. In going to school, they both used the same route to get to Nami Middle which explained why they met at morning every day. They always passed by Tsuna's house to pick him up.

"Tsuna-nii! Wait for me!" Fuuta came out of the house.

"Ohayo Takeshi-nii, Hayato-nii!"

"Fuuta-kun! Why are you dressed in a uniform?" asked Yamamoto.

"It's my first day of school today!"

Fuuta went to Nami Elementary, a school very near Tsuna's. In fact, they had the same principal.

"We're actually going through the same route, so Fuuta-kun might as well tag along." said Tsuna.

The four walked through the streets of Namimori to go to Nami Middle at the north. After some time, they reached the school gate. They were greeted by two girls.

"See you later Tsuna-nii!" Fuuta walked westward to the elementary building.

"Ohayo Tsuna-kun." greeted one happily.

_Kyoko-chan! _Tsuna thought.

"Ohayo Dame Tsuna." the other girl greeted coldly.

"Don't you ever speak to the Tenth like that!" Gokudera scolded.

"Hmmph" she replied.

"Awww, I didn't catch the underwear guy!" shouted a nearby girl.

"Katou-chan!"

"I was looking forward to catching him this time." sighed Katou. She was carrying a handcam on her right hand. A pen was positioned at the breast pocket of her uniform and a notebook jutted out from her pocket. Clearly, she was a reporter.

"And he would have made a good cover for this weeks issue."

"Better luck next time Katou-san!" mocked Tsuna.

"Oh, maybe not now Sawada Tsunayoshi. But someday, I will catch you in your underwear for all the world to see." Tsuna froze and almost swore that her eyes turned demonic.

"TO THE EXTREME!"

"Onii-chan!" Kyoko greeted the newcomer.

"SASAGAWA RYOHEI! My motto is, EXTREME!"

Kyoko's brother had silvery white hair, though it certainly lacked luster compared to Gokudera's. It was shorter as well. He was taller and had bandages around his arms. He also had cuts around his face and had a muscular build.

"Onii-chan! Where did you go to this time?"

"Well, I ran around town once. The wind's so good today!"

"Figures, turf-head." remarked Gokudera coldly.

"What was that octopus-head?!" and the two stared at each so intensely that one could swear that lightning was coming from both their eyes and clashing at each other. Yamamoto and Tsuna sweatdropped. Kyoko and her companion were clearly amused.

"Then I'll settle for these two then!" Katou set up her camera again and caught Gokudera and Ryohei bickering. "This'll make a good headliner, **Octopus Head vs. Turf Head!**"

"Now, now you guys…" Yamamoto calmed them down.

Then the two of them let each other go, for now. As Ryohei turned his head away from Gokudera, his head turned to the direction of the other girl.

"Kurokawa!" Ryohei blushed.

"Ummmm..." He bowed down to her. Then he stood up with his eyes covered by his hair, though everyone could plainly see he was blushing. "MUST NOT BE LATE! TO THE EXTREME!"

"Blushing huh? I smell a lead here." thought Katou. "Well, see you later!"

Ryohei ran at an inhuman speed to his classroom, leaving the other girl to wonder what had just happened. Katou ran in the same direction, chasing Ryohei.

"Kyoko-chan, what did you do to your brother?" asked her companion.

"Nothing Hana-chan. But you know, he hasn't let me in his room ever since…" Kyoko paused and let her hair cover her eyes. "Ever since we came back from the picnic."

_That was close!_ Tsuna and the other boys were relieved.

"What are you herbivores doing there, crowding around?"

There, they saw a teen slightly taller than them all with pale skin, though not as pale as Gokudera's. He had two tonfas at both of his hands, a prefect band around his right arm, the arms of his prefect coat hanging around carelessly in the wind and a murderous intent in his bluish-grey eyes.

"Hibari-san!" exclaimed Tsuna.

"Ah, Sawada." Hibari smiled, though slightly. "You'll be late if you don't hurry."

"Arrigato Hibari-san. Let's go."

The small group went to Class 2-A.

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"Good morning class!"

"Good morning sensei!"

"First order of business, I'll be introducing a new student today. You can come in now."

A male student came in, carrying a backpack. He had reddish orange hair, and glasses on his eyes. The teacher began to write the student's name on the board.

"Konichiwa, my name is Irie Shoichi. Nice to meet you all." Shoichi introduced himself timidly.

"Yamamoto!" Yamamoto stirred at his seat near the window. "We haven't even started class yet and you're already sleeping!"

Yamamoto put his hand at the back of his head and feigned innocence. "Gomen ne, sensei."

Shoichi looked at his surroundings and saw Tsuna, Tsuna smiled back while Gokudera simply let out a,

"Hmmph." And turned away his head from the new arrival.

"Let's see, Irie-san. Take the seat behind Sasagawa."

Irie proceeded to the back row fearfully while avoiding the stares of the other students.

"Time for class."

Class went on for four more hours. Lunch was at 12.

"Tenth, where should we have lunch?"

"Tsuna-kun, Hana-chan and I are eating lunch at the roof. Want to come along?" Kyoko invited.

"Sure. What about Yamamoto-kun?"

"Baseball idiot? Oh I'll wake him up."

Gokudera turned towards Yamamoto. He then threw a baseball at the sleeping student. Miraculously, the baseball never hit its target. Instead, Yamamoto's hand shot up instantly and caught the baseball.

"That was a dirty trick Gokudera." Yamamoto said as he sat up straight with his eys covered by his hair and a smirk on his mouth.

"But really, that's a low quality ball you got there." Yamamoto's demeanor changed to a cheery one.

"Well baseball idiot, it's not like I spend my entire allowance on baseball. So I brought a cheap baseball just for these kind of things."

"I'm actually touched." Yamamoto laughed. "Let's have lunch."

"Irie-san, want to come along?" invited Tsuna.

"Umm… sure..." Shoichi said timidly.

The small group proceeded to the roof.

"Hey Tsuna-kun."

"What is it Kyoko-chan?"

"Haru-chan, Chrome-chan and I are coming later this afternoon to try cooking. Chrome-chan's been really interested in cooking ever since we came back… from our picnic."

_Looks like her tongue almost slipped again._

"Picnic?" asked Shoichi.

"Ah, they disappeared during a picnic trip for two days and just came back yesterday. A week before that, they disappeared for three days." answered Hana.

After lunch, the day passed on slowly. Yamamoto slept through the entire class as usual, so did Gokudera. Gokudera was easy enough to notice and was reprimanded.

"Gokudera-san, why are you sleeping?" asked their female sensei.

"Because I feel like it." Gokudera replied coolly while still closing his eyes.

"Well then I hope you feel like answering this question." mocked the teacher.

"Go ahead sensei." Gokudera mocked back, with a smirk on his face.

"Here goes. If 3x plus 5y is equal to 30 and 4x minus 6y is equal to 2, what are the values of x and y?"

"Simple, x is 6 and y is 4."

"Let me check, nope it's wrong." Gokudera opened his eyes and was shocked because he was wrong. He slapped his hands on the table and stood up.

"How could that be wrong." Rage filled him though he did not dare make a move against the teacher.

"Actually sensei, x is 5 and y is 3." answered Tsuna.

"Well done Sawada."

"Wow, Dame Tsuna actually got the problem right for once." a nearby student commented.

Everyone was dismissed by 3:30.

"Hey, Tsuna-kun!" Kyoko remarked at the gate. "I'll see you later."

Tsuna could have sworn he saw a faint blush. He blushed as well. Kyoko ran towards her home to get Haru and Chrome.

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**And that concludes our first chapter! Liked it, hated it? Well I can say that it is kind of slow and the ending was kind of abrupt. Please comment! Try to not to flame please… **


	2. UFO Abduction

**Hey! The CandyConjurer is back! Before I start, I'd like to thank my first two reviewers, girlpresses and sara-sakura101forever. Thank you for your praise. I'd like you to remember that this chapter has no yaoi intended. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. Akira Amano-sensei does.**

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Chapter 2

Abduction

Hayato Gokudera could pass off as an expert paranormal researcher. He knew some defensive sutras that seemed to work well against ghosts, he researched on 101 ways to kill vampires and he also studied how to use plants to effectively combat zombies*. But never in his whole life had he expected that he would see a UFO so soon. He wasn't holding a camera of sorts to document it and show to the whole world that UFO's were real. Hell, he wasn't even thinking about that now. His interest wasn't aroused by the flashing lights, the thought of actually meeting extraterrestrials or the ultra advanced alien technology utilized by the ship. He was mesmerized by the fact that out of all the possible abductees, out of the six billion people populating the world (and he cursed the gods for this), why o why did they have to abduct Takeshi Yamamoto?

_To understand our tale, we must begin where we left off…_

_Flashback time…_

Tsunayoshi Sawada walked through the streets of Namimori happily thinking to himself,

_Kyoko-chan's coming over!_

He smiled to himself, stuck in his own world. That is, until Gokudera and Yamamoto came along.

"Tenth!"

"Tsuna!"

"Gokudera-kun! Yamamoto-kun!"

"Now, now Tsuna, we've been through a lot after all. Call me Takeshi."**

"But…"

"Say it with me.. Ta-ke-shi."

"Alright, Takeshi-kun."

"You should also call Gokudera Hayato-kun. Say it with me, Ha-ya-to. Right Hayato-kun?"

"Baseball idiot! Who said you could call me that?"

"Hayato."

Bianchi appeared in front of the three middle schoolers. As if on cue, Hayato's face turned blue and collapsed, arms outstretched.***

"Hayato, Hayato. You have such a weak body."

"Bianchi-san! What are you doing here?"

"Didn't I tell you earlier? I'm collecting ingredients for Iemistu-san's birthday party."

Bianchi pointed to her backpack on her back. Tsuna saw an assortment of strange items such as snakes, mushrooms and he could have sworn that he saw a pair of evil yellow eyes staring right back at him.

"Ahh, Gokudera-kun? Are you all right?"

"Don't… worry… about… me… Tenth…" Gokudera spoke weakly.

"I'll carry him." offered Takeshi.

"Arrigato Takeshi-kun."

Takeshi placed Gokudera's arm around his neck tightly and they walked towards the Sawada residence. Meanwhile, Katou spied on them.

"So Gokudera Hayato faints if he sees his sister Bianchi eh? This might make a good headliner, "**Octopus Head has brain damage, caused by Sister?!**"

Katou thought to herself, _Maybe that's too long and unappealing… Oh I know!_

"What about **Does Octopus Head like Baseball Idiot?**"

Katou smirked to herself. _Yes, yes! That's perfect. I'll continue stalking. And maybe, just maybe, I'll catch hentai Tsuna! Bwahahahahaha!!_

"Hahahahahahahahahaha!"

Meanwhile about 10 km from the ground an aircraft hovered above Namimori. It wasn't too big, it was circular and had a 10 m diameter. Inside were two humanoid beings. Both of them were speaking in some strange alien language.

"Hey honey, who should we abduct today?"

"Hmmm… We've been researching the Terrans for quite some time haven't we?"

"Yes my dear."

"Remember that woman we kidnapped yesterday?"

"Giovanni Macaulay? What about her?"

"There's something weird about that girl."

"Really… what?"

"Well we know that Terran's employ a duo-sexual form of reproduction. This means that they have two genders, genetically distinct because of their so called X/Y chromosome."

"And?"

"I analyzed Macaulay's DNA and found out that she had a Y chromosome."

"But that's impossible. We were sure that she was female. Does that mean that it's a he?"

"Strangely, yes. I performed the tests five times and the results were consistent. Then I tried testing the DNA of his companion."

"Oh, Samuel? What did you find out?"

"I also discovered a Y chromosome."

"You mean they're both of the same sex? But weren't they having intercourse when we found them? We specifically saw Samuel insert his copulating organ into Giovanni's uterus."

"Exactly my point."

"Where exactly does this lead us?"

"This points out my dear, that they may also use a uni-sexual mechanism of reproduction."

"But how can we find out now, we disposed of them remember?"

"Oh, we'll just have to find to more Y chromosome carriers don't we?"

_Back at Namimori…_

"Here we are!" Takeshi exclaimed as they approached the Sawada Residence.

"Kaa-san, I'm home!" Tsuna said as he opened the door and left their foot wear there.

"Welcome back Tsu-kun!" Nana's head peered out through the doorway. Nana looked at the three boys. Gokudera could barely stand but he insisted on standing.

"Hey Hay- I mean Gokudera, you should rest now." Tsuna directed Gokudera to the sofa.

"Arrigato Tenth." Gokudera lied down on the sofa. He decided to take a nap.

"Hey Takeshi-kun, could you watch over him? I have to fetch Kyoko-chan and Haru from the supermarket."

_Just my luck, thought Gokudera._

"Roger boss!"

_That's more like it._

Tsuna went out of the living room and went outside of the house to fetch Kyoko and Haru. Then, Nana called Tsuna.

"Tsu-kun!" she searched around the living room. "Yamamoto-kun, have you seen Tsu-kun?"

"He went out to get Sasagawa-san and Miura san."

"Oh dear, now who'll get the fish for our sushi."

"Sawada-san, I'll get it." volunteered Takeshi. "Pops runs a sushi store, it shouldn't be too hard for me to get fresh fish."

"I'm coming along baseball idiot!" Gokudera stood up. "I'm not letting you get all the glory."

Gokudera became pumped up and he clenched his fist in determination, "I, Gokudera Hayato, the Tenth's right hand man will prove his capabilities!"

"Now, now Gokudera…" Takeshi pleaded him to calm down.

"Arrigato Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto-kun." thanked Nana.

Gokudera and Takeshi both picked up their shoes and as Gokudera opened the door to the outside world, Nana called back.

"Be back by 6!"

"We're going!"

"Have a safe trip!"

When Takeshi closed the door behind them, Gokudera began his usual complaining.

"Why do I have to go with you baseball idiot?"

"Tsk tsk. Because we run the sushi shop. I much better at checking out these things than you are. Besides, you were raised in Italy."

"Hmmph."

_Meanawhile, at the airship._

"Honey, don't those two match what we need? Besides they already know each other so it shouldn't be hard to coax them into cooperating with us."

"Oh, I'd love to abduct them right now, but there's a problem. I've run a thermal scan on the white haired Y carrier and there appears to be some sort of explosive compound and flammable compund around his body. Right now, I'm analyzing it and creating an counter-active compound to make sure we don't explode."

"Well then, hurry."

"Even if I was finished now, there's another problem. Our gravitation beam emitter has significantly weakened due to our continuous abductions. We can only do it once, so we have to make sure that if we want to perform our experiments on them they have to be real close to each other."

"Oh this'll be exciting! If our research is a success, we might also be able to use this technology to help our planet."

"Yes of course." And the two humanoids kissed each other passionately.

Gokudera and Takeshi went westward towards the convenience store.

_Meanawhile with Tsuna…_

"Lambo-kun, Ipin-chan, why'd you come along anyway?"

"Ipin want to see Kyoko-nee and Haru-nee."

"Lambo wanted to stop by the ice cream store."

"Okay then."

Tsuna stopped by the ice cream truck.

"Lambo-kun, what flavor do you want?"

"Eh, Dame Tsuna! I want strawberry and chocolate ice cream!"

"Umm, excuse me?" As Tsuna asked the ice cream seller for an order, the ice cream seller turned around and appeared to be Bianchi.

"Bianchi-san! What are you doing here?"

"Oh it's you Dame Tsuna. I made a deal with the ice cream retailer that he'd give me a list of their ingredients if I'd sell some ice cream cones. Unfortunately, I haven't made much progress since people saw that four-eyed, reddish-oranged haired kid eat one of my ice cream cones.

_Oh dear, that must have been Irie-san_.

"He was taken to the hospital immediately. He must have been full and had eaten much more than he could chew." Bianchi said thoughtfully. "Anyway, what flavor can I get you?"

Tsuna thought evilly, _Hehehehe, this might be a good chance to get back at Lambo. _Ipin became frightened of the evil expression on Tsuna's face.

"One strawberry and chocolate please. Here's the payment." Bianchi took the payment thankfully. Bianchi handed Tsuna with a Poison Cooking Ice Cream, as was her specialty. The cone miraculously was not made of poison cooking.

"Here you go Lambo!" Tsuna gave the ice cream cone gleefully.

"Lambo, are you sure you should be eating that?" Ipin stared fearfully.

"Arrigato Dame Tsuna!" Lambo ignored her and received the ice cream.

Lambo swallowed the ice cream in one gulp. After some time, Lambo began to feel faint.

"Gotta… stay... calm…" and he collapsed. Ipin became scared. Regardless, she went to Lambo and put her ear to his chest.

"Tsuna-san, he's not breathing…"

"Oh it's not a problem." Tsuna smiled evilly. Ipin was no doubly scared. "Ipin-chan, would you like some ice cream."

And with, that Ipin snapped out of her delusion. And she screamed.

"Ipin-chan? Are you all right?" asked Tsuna.

"Oi Tsuna, still ordering a cone?" asked Bianchi.

"Umm… no thank you Bianchi. I forgot that I left my umm… wallet back home hehe…"

"But Tsuna!" exclaimed Lambo.

"Now, now Lambo." persuaded Tsuna. "I'll get you one next time alright."

"Dame Tsuna's so selfish…"

"See you later Bianchi!" _I hope she doesn't come for dinner. Otherwise._ And Tsuna, an unsatisfied Lambo and a frightened Ipin walked away from the ice cream selling Bianchi.

_Back to Gokudera and Takeshi…_

"What about this one?"

"Nope, it's too red."

"This one?"

"Nope, too pink."

"Then this one?"

"I'm pretty sure it's spoiled."

_That idiot is so picky._

"Hey, this one might do. Let's take it."

Gokudera and Takeshi went toward the counter and paid for the fish. They went out of the convenience store with Gokudera in front and Takeshi at the back.

"Ok honey." The first alien said. "Let's place a yellow fruit peeling on the floor. Rummaging through specimens."

"Why do we have to do that?"

"I saw on one of the Terran's so called recordings for entertainment that that was an effective way of making an enemy Terran slip."

"Alright then, positioning the yellow fruit structure. Position locked."

A banana peeling fell from the spaceship and right onto Gokudera's line of walking. Takeshi saw the peeling and,

"Gokudera!"

"Yobisute?+"

"Watch out for that…" But it was too late, Gokudera had already slipped. Because he was quite close to Takeshi, his fall caused Takeshi to fall front face and land on Gokudera's back.

"Ow. Ow. Ow." said a pained Gokudera. In an instant, white light come from the heavens. Soon, Yamamoto was pulled from Gokudera by some unknown force. He was floating upwards to some unknown aircraft which to Gokudera was known as,

"A UFO!" Gokudera had already stood up.

_And here we are, back to where we started._

"Gokudera, you know I'd rarely say this but, HELP!" pleaded Takeshi.

"Yobisute again baseball idiot?!" Gokudera exclaimed as he chased Takeshi.

"He's really not letting me go for that one…" stated the floating middle schooler.

Gokudera pulled eight special dynamites from, well somewhere. Nobody does really know where those bombs come from though he never seems to run out.

"Rocket Bomb!"

Gokudera threw them at the UFO, seemingly directly at Takeshi. To react, the spaceship produced from its hull a blue colored gun.

"Aiming directly at projectiles." Said the second alien.

Gokudera expected some sort of laser to stop his dynamites. Unfortunately, it was only water.

Gokudera stared at the water. "These are really cheap aliens…" The bombs then changed direction in an instant, avoiding every beam of water the water gun had produced.

"BOOM!" Each bomb went off at the exact same time, hitting the hull of the ship.

"Looks like you made a mistake dear."

"It appears that these projectiles are special. They appear to be equipped with some sort of special compound at the other terminal which makes them change trajectory in mid-flight."

However, the ship was not damaged. Not even a scratch.

"The good news is that the force fields were still charged. We've sustained minimal damage."

"Honey, there appears to be a rapid change of elevation 250 meters directly east of our position. We might catch the other y carrier with that."

"Then direct the craft to that direction immeadiately!"

"Roger!"

"Darn it!" cursed Gokudera. Then he began muttering profanities.

_They're headed for the cliff. They must think they can lose me… Think again…_

"Think again idiots!" The two aliens saw on their screen, with subtitles.

The chase reached the cliff in a short time. Out of options, Gokudera decided to try a new technique. He placed bombs on his shoes and quickly towards Takeshi.

"Gokudera! What are you planning with that?"

"Quiet baseball idiot! That's the last time you're using yobisute one me!"

The bombs exploded, catapulting Gokudera into the air, and landing on Takeshi's back. Soon, they both fainted from exhaustion.

"Oh, this is going to be a real scoop! **Octopus Head faints on Baseball Idiot?!**" exclaimed Katou.

_After a while, inside the spaceship…_

"Greetings, Terrans."

Takeshi and Gokudera both woke up. They appeared to be locked in some sort of electrostatic cell.

"We come in peace."

"That's what they all say."

"Ossu! My name is Ya-ma-mo-to Ta-ke-shi. Nice to meet you! Though I don't think I can see you…"

_Baseball idiot…_

"You humans have been selected for a special experiment."

"What kind of experiment exactly?"

"Our species has strangely mutated into a uni-sexual form of reproduction. We used to have a duo-sexual form of reproduction but somehow we mutated to something like this."

"And?"

"We've noticed that you species is usually duo-sexual in nature, but we have observed that some of you engage in reproduction of the uni-sexual nature."

_Does he mean… gays?!_

"And because of that, we have decided to study the both of you and see what happens in the case of a uni-sexual form of reproduction."

_Eh, does that mean?!_

"Umm… Gokudera…-san. What exactly did he say?"

"Baseball idiot, it might be better for you not to know."

"We are now inserting pheromones into the chamber. Also, we are proceeding to remove your clothing now."

_Nani?!_

As if on impulse, Gokudera threw a bomb from his pocket. It was a big explosion. Soon, Gokudera and Takeshi fell from the sky.

_On the ground…_

"Boss, I'm very pleased that Sasagawa-sama, Miura-sama and yourself are teaching me cooking." said Chrome.

"No, no Chrome-chan. Call me Kyoko-chan."

"And call me Haru-chan ~desu!"

"Ok." Chrome said shyly. "Umm… Boss, isn't that an explosion."

"Huh? Where did that come from?" asked Lambo.

"Hmmm…" Tsuna stared at the explosion and made out two people falling from the sky to their impending doom.

_Takeshi-kun and Gokudera-kun!_

Instantly, Tsuna swallowed two pills from a box he kept nearby and put on some special mittens. Tsuna had entered Hyper Dying Will mode.

"Let's go." Tsuna propelled himself upwards. Soon he caught Takeshi and Gokudera on his arms.

"Tenth!"

"Tsuna!"

Tsuna did not say a word and landed themselves on the ground.

"What were you doing up there?"

"Umm…" Takeshi started to explain.

"We were… blasted away by my dynamites!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! We were blasted away by my dynamites when I accidentally lit them. Hahahahaha…" Gokudera laughed nervously.

"Well then, let's go. We're almost late. It's already 5:30."

Takeshi and Gokudera stared at each other hard.

_That was only 30 minutes?!_

The subconsciously vowed never to speak of it again.

_Back at the Sawada Residence…_

"Oh Everyone's back! Gokudera-kun, did you get the fish.?"

"Umm…" Of course he couldn't tell her they were abducted so instead…

"The store ran out of fish... hehehehe…" Now Takeshi laughed nervously.

"Oh, so that's why you set the bombs loose on the store owner." Whispered Tsuna.

"Gomen nasai, Tenth. No-one was hurt though." Gokudera waved his hands innocently.

"Ah, Mrs. Sawada, we already bought fish earlier this afternoon." said Kyoko.

"Gomen ne, Yamamoto-kun, Gokudera-kun." The two boys sighed.

"Well then, let's get started!" exclaimed Haru.

_Later that night…_

After dinner, Gokudera went to rest at the sofa, Takeshi accompanied him while the rest chatted gaily at the table. Later, the phone rang. Nana answered it.

"Moshi Moshi! Sawada Residence, Nana here. Oh, Yamamoto-san! Yes, Takeshi-kun is here. You want me to call him. Alright, a moment please." Nana shouted towards the living room, "Yamamoto-kun! Your father's calling."

"Coming!" Takeshi's head peered out of the living room doorway. "Eh Gokudera, stay there for a moment would ya'?"

_Baseball idiot! You better not be coming back!_

"Hey tou-san! What is it? Onii-san's playing? Really? I'll put the TV on right away. Oh something else? I'll be home by eight. Thanks tou-san!"

At an instant, Takeshi ran back to the living room. He reached for the remote and put on the TV. He switched the channel to a sports channel. Gokudera opened his eyes and saw that there was a baseball game going on.

"And that ends our last game for today! The winner is the Japanese team!"

"Alright!" exclaimed Takeshi.

Gokudera saw a man similar to Takeshi being raised by his fellow teammates. He was noticeably taller and more muscular than Takeshi however.

"Mr. Yamamoto." A reporter interviewed in English. "As team captain, how do you feel about being one step closer to the semi-finals?"

"Well, I must say that it is a wonderful opportunity to even be here." Takeshi's brother said in perfect English. "And I must say that it feels great!"

"Is there anyone you'd like to thank, for their support?"

"I'd like to thank my teammates, kami-sama and my family, my little brother Takeshi, pops and mom…" Takeshi's brother paused and turned into a sad smile. "Wherever she is now."

"And that was Kakashi Yamamoto everyone. And this is your sports reporter Anna signing off."

Takeshi soon closed the TV. Gokudera saw a tear fall down Takeshi's face.

_Baseball idiot…_

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

***Anyone of you play Plants vs. Zombies by Popcap? That's where I got the idea.**

****Some of you might forget, though I'm quite certain you know of this if you're browsing through here. In Japan, people call people they are not close with through their last name, then add the honorific –san. Since Tsuna and Takeshi have been through a lot, it would seem logical for Tsuna to call Yamamoto Takeshi-kun. Besides, Yamamoto doesn't call Tsuna Sawada-san.**

*****For those of you who have gone so far through the series that you may have forgotten. A running joke is that Gokudera has a stomachache every time Bianchi appears. This doesn't happen as long as part of Bianchi's face is covered.**

**+ A rarely encountered word I believe. Means the lack of the use of an honorific and in fact is an honorific on itself. Generally used between REALLY close people including couples, family members and really close friends. Not earning the right to use this kind of honorific can be treated as an insult. **

**Oh and about using Takeshi I hope you guys don't mind. It was hard, I mean every time I wanted to type Takeshi the first letter I'd press on impulse would be Y. Then I'd have to erase it hehehe. And here's a little extra: **

**Candy Conjurerer's Interview Dangerous! -desu (What, they removed Haru, Haru Interview Dangerous!) **

**This week's guest: Katou Kazumi–chan!**

**A: Hey Katou-chan, don't you think **_"_Does Octopus Head like Baseball Idiot?" **goes a bit too far?**

**K: But you're the one who wrote it remember?**

**A: And you didn't even get a photo of the UFO?**

**K: I'm a tabloid reporter, not a newspaper reporter. Besides, I thought you hated yaoi. The way I see it, this whole chapter's dedicated to yaoi.**

**A: Umm... back to our interview then. What is your full name again?**

**K: My full name is Katou Kazumi, tabloid reporter for Nami Middle.**

**A: Hey Katou-chan, how exactly did you end up in Nami Middle?**

**K: Logically speaking, you inserted me as one of your OC's. However, my story is actually featured in the next chapter if ever you ever get around to writing it.**

**A: Ah, I see. Maybe I will. Thank you for your time Katou-chan.**

**K: Not that I have a choice, you're the one pulling the strings after all.**

**A: This has been Candy Conjurer Interview Dangerou ~desu. See you again ~desu.**

**What? At least I actually finished an interview. Compared Haru over there. *Haru cries in a corner.***

**Oh right, befor I end, do continue your reviews. Thank you all!**


	3. A Prelude of Things to Come

**Hello there guys! Thanks to girlpresses for the review and actually subscribing to my work. Thank you very much! Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own KHR. It is owned by Akira Amano-sensei.**

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Chapter 3

A Prelude of Things to Come

After Takeshi left, Gokudera decided to stay the night at the Sawada Household. It wasn't just to guard Tsuna, he was also persuaded by Reborn earlier at dinner.

"Gokudera Hayato, the so-called right hand man of the Tenth." Reborn appeared from the living room doorway.

"Reborn-san!"

"Ciaossu."

"Isn't it a little bit too late to be using that greeting?"

"I don't think so. In Italian time, it should still be daytime."

"But we live in Japan. Besides, not all Italians speak Japanese."

"That's not the point here. I heard from Dame Tsuna that you made a mistake in Math earlier."

_Flashback…_

"_How was your day Tsu-kun?" asked Nana._

"_Tsuna-kun answered a tough math question earlier."_

"_Now, now Kyoko-chan, it wasn't that hard. Strangely, Gokudera-kun didn't get it all.'_

"_So he didn't get it right huh?" said Reborn._

"But Reborn-san! That was because I was thinking of another problem."

"I'm warning you Gokudera Hayato. Mistakes of that kind may be small, but what if you made a big mistake that killed Tsuna huh?"

"But…" Gokudera turned serious.

"Gokudera Hayato. Mistakes may vary in size when weighed, but the weight can vary from person to person."

"Reborn…-san."

"To rectify your mistake, I have arranged an overnight study session just for you. Our topic will be math. Please come with me to Tsuna's room."

_At the guest room…_

"Tsuna-nii, why are you sleeping with us?"

"Reborn told me that he's going to use my room for an overnight study session with Gokudera-kun."

"But can't you still sleep even with Hayato in the room?" asked Bianchi. "In fact, shouldn't you be safer? He is your self-proclaimed right hand man after all."

"Oh it's not that Bianchi-san." replied Tsuna. "Knowing Reborn, he's probably up to something nasty. I didn't want to be in the same room as him when that happened." Tsuna yawned and already closed his eyes. "Besides, this time he made the offer."

_Back at Tsuna's room…_

"I often use this method to check Tsuna's understanding of his lessons, especially math." Explained the mafia infant.

Gokudera observed there were three sets of detonators each with a set of wires that intermingled with each other. The wires passed through a large piece of cardboard and Gokudera saw a wooden chair behind the cardboard, probably to serve as a platform for Reborn.

"Each detonator is labeled A through C, one of them is harmless, the other two could potentially cause harm to Dame Tsuna. I can at will change the positioning of the wires so as to change the answer to the question. Are you with me so far?" Gokudera nodded.

"Each time you answer a question, you must push down one of the detonators. If you successfully press the detonators ten times without fail, you'll get a prize from me. You'll also be given a time limit for each question. Should you fail to decide within the given time limit you will have to act on impulse. If you choose not to act," Reborn produced a remote with a big red button on his hand.

"I'll press this remote without hesitation and make the whole house explode."

"Reborn-san! Are you serious?!"

Reborn glared back at him. "Of course I am. If I weren't, how could I train you?"

Gokudera closed his eyes. After some deep thought, "Let's do this Reborn-san." He clenched his fist courageously, "I, Gokudera Hayato as Vongola Tenth's right hand man will protect him to the very end!"

"Very good. If you would please sit down on that chair over there." Reborn pointed at a wooden chair with arms. Gokudera walked towards the chair intently.

"Now place your arms on the arms of the chair." Gokudera did so and metallic bands bound him to the chair."

"I can't have you escaping in the middle of training now can I? These bands will let go to signify the time limit has started and that you can press one of the detonators. If you make any effort to escape, poison will be injected into your body. You won't die immediately but should you fail to press a detonator then I will still blow up the house, understood?" Gokudera was a bit uneasy but,

"I will not fail the Tenth!"

"Then let's start."

_At the Yamamoto household…_

Takeshi Yamamoto and his father sat at a table in their sushi shop. They were both eating dinner. Words were spoken only out of occasion and necessity.

"Takeshi, get some rice from the rice cooker."

Takeshi stood up and proceeded towards the rice cooker and filled the bowl with rice.

"Pops, how long has it been since kaa-san passed away?"

Takeshi's father thought deeply and replied, "It's been a long time. About ten years I believe."

"I don't remember much pops, especially about how she died. It's really a blur." Takeshi said as he placed the rice bowl and the table and went to the refrigerator.

"Your mother was diagnosed to have hemophilia when she was eleven. When she gave birth to Kakashi and later you, she'd lost a lot of blood. Your grandparents and I often stayed up for days looking after her and finding an appropriate donor."

"How does that relate to how she died?" Takeshi asked as he sat down and continued eating.

"It was raining that day. I remember it quite clearly…"

_Flashback to ten years ago…_

"_Shun, I'll go get Takeshi from school." Takeshi's mother said as she fixed her shoes and opened her umbrella._

"_Are you sure honey? I can always close early and get him instead."_

"_No, no Shun. I want to go out of the house from time to time." she argued._

_Shun sighed. "Alright, take care then." And the two kissed passionately._

"_Well then, see you later!"_

_Thirty minutes later, the phone at the Yamamoto residence rang._

"_Moshi moshi. Yamamoto residence, Shun speaking."_

"_Excuse me, is this the husband of Yamamoto Rika?"_

_Shun suspected something wrong. "Yes, did something happen to her?"_

"_Mr. Yamamoto, your wife has been involved in an accident. She is currently undergoing treatment at the Namimori Cent-"_

_Shun dropped the phone. Extreme grief overcame him and he began to cry, "Why, Rika?"_

"Your uncle, grandparents and I kept watch over her for three days. None of us could sleep. Your brother was studying abroad back then so we had to call him back. She died after that from the blood loss."

"What was the cause?"

"A car had hit her. The driver was a kind and honest man, he never intended to hit her. Truth was he was steered to her direction because of another motorcycle. Nevertheless he apologized sincerely and even paid for the hospital expenses and funeral services."

"I see. Thank you for telling me this tou-san."

"Not a problem, Takeshi."

"Good night tou-san."

"Good night Takeshi."

_Back at the Sawada household…_

"Well done Gokudera. So far you've managed to answer two questions right. Now, we'll proceed to calculus."

"But the topic was supposed to be advanced algebra!"

"A Mafioso must always be prepared for anything." Gokudera sighed, "Let's just get on with it."

"Here is the question, what is the limit of sinx over x as x approaches 0? The choices are shown on the detonators."

_This is easy! The answer is one._

Numbers appeared on the detonators. The first detonator was labeled 1, the second and third were labeled with 1 as well.

"Reborn-san! What gives?!"

"I told you that the question only gives a clue to the right detonator to press. It doesn't necessarily mean that the answer is the right detonator. You have and hour to think this over."

_This is tough. Each number looks exactly the same, the same color and the detonators appear to be positioned exactly the same. _Gokudera stared even harder at the detonators and continued on until and hour. Then he noticed something peculiar.

_On the streets of Namimori and near the Sasagawa household…_

"Chrome-chan, you don't need to accompany home. Besides, Haru-chan is here and I can get there on my own." Kyoko insisted as herself, Chrome.

"I'm sorry but I cannot do that my lady. Boss's orders."

_Earlier that night…_

"_Tsuna-kun! We'll be going now."_

_Kyoko-chan's going now, thought Tsuna._

"_Boss, I'll accompany her home." Tsuna turned and saw Chrome._

"_Arrigato Chrome."_

_Back to the street…_

"Chrome-chan, we're still glad to have you here though ~desu!" Haru supplemented.

Chrome smiled back in response. Then, Chrome suddenly became worried. She established a mind link with a close friend.

_Mind link…_

"Mukuro-san, Mukuro-san, can you hear me?"

Chrome heard a yawn through the connection.

"My precious Chrome. Is there anything you needed?"

"I'm being watched."

"Would you like me to takeover?"

"Not now Mukuro-san. I believe we should save our energy for now."

"Are you sure it's not just one of the Vongola?"

"Definitely not one of them. I sent an owl scout earlier, and just now I can't feel it anymore."

"Maybe it's one of the Varia?"

"Mukuro-san, we are both guardians of the Tenth. Anyone in the family would certainly know of our existence. Besides, I impinted the Vongola Seal on that owl."

"We must be careful then. Have you set-up an illusion on you and the girls?"

"I already did and to doubly make sure, I spread some snakes around the area. Though it might be useless now. Hey Mukuro-san, couldn't you posses Gokudera-san or Bianchi-san?"

"I've never tried, but it might take a bit more energy."

"What about contacting the Vendicare guards?"

"I'm in a special prison Chrome. You who have a very strong link to myself are the only one capable of merging with me."

After some silence on the line, Mukuro spoke again.

"Was the owl you sent _that_ kind of owl?"

"You mean an owl created from the Path of the Beast? No, it was just an illusion."

"Then, isn't that owl vulnerable only to enemy illusionists?"

"Come to think of it, yes."

"Chrome, watch your back for now. I have a bad feeling about this."

_End of Mind link…_

"Chrome-chan? Is there anything wrong? ~desu."

"Eh?" Chrome realized that she had stopped walking. "Oh, it's nothing."

_Back at the Sawada household…_

_There's kanji at the bottom left. _He looked at the center._ There's kanji for two there. Nii. _He looked at the left. _There's kanji for one there. Ichi._

"Time's up, pick one now."

Gokudera pressed the leftmost detonator. Nothing happened.

"Very good powers of observation there Gokudera. Let's see if you can get through this one."

At a room on the same floor, Tsuna was rocking back and forth in his sleep.

_Inside Tsuna's mind…_

Tsuna opened his eyes and saw he was at some sort of circular area. As he looked around, he saw that there was a landmark there. A statue of what could have been called an adult Tsuna. He was dressed in a suit, had huge pupils, and standing hair. At first, there was this tuft of hair that appeared to be out of place. No, it was a flame. A dying will flame. There were also flames on his hands. Or rather his gloves.

"This is…"

There was engraving at the bottom of the statue. Giotto Vongola, Founder of Namimori.

"No way."

Then mist began to flood the area. The sky turned dark and cloudy. It was hard to see through the dark mist.

"Anyone out there!" Tsuna called.

Soon the mist cleared partially and Tsuna saw an outline of a figure in front of him. The figure was taller than him and had a sword on his hand.

"Vongola's Tenth. So we meet at last."

"Who... are you?"

"I am one aligned with the mist."

"Mist?"

The figure produced an indigo flame from his hand free hand.

"Forget who, what are you?"

"We shall meet soon, young Vongola."

The figure disappeared and soon he was surrounded by other figures, thirteen in number.

"So we meet at last Vongola."

"Now who are you?"

"Prey need not know who hunts them."

"What?"

Tsuna felt a strong killing intent coming from his right. Because of his trained reflexes, he doged backwards. He saw a knife pass through him a slash his cheek.

"Hihihihi… It wouldn't be fun to kill you on your sleep. I did deliberately miss."

"What?"

"Calm down Ripper. If we kill him now…" The voice was interrupted.

"I'm not going to miss this time!"

A knife came from the right and turned to face him and aimed for his heart. At that instant Tsuna woke up and broke into cold sweat. He breathed heavily.

"Tsuna-nii. Are you alright?"

Tsuna stood up and turned to the left and saw Fuuta half-asleep with eyes half closed but undoubtedly worried of his older brother. Tsuna smiled weakly and assured him,

"It's nothing Fuuta."

"Are you sure Tsuna-nii?"

Tsuna simply smiled back at him. Fuuta smiled back,

"Good night Tsuna-nii."

_Back at Tsuna's Room…_

"Now for the final question, what is the Tsuna's math average for the previous semester?"

"The boss is smart. I am quite sure that it's an A+!"

"Are you sure Gokudera?"

As the choices appeared on the detonators. Gokudera thought about Tsuna's math grade. He was sure that he had seen the report card.

_Flashback…_

"_Tenth, let me see your grades!"_

_Tsuna was in a state of shock._

"_Ah, Gokudera. Not that good really. You?"_

_Gokudera proudly showed his. It was made up all of straight A's except for Japanese, an A._

"_Well, I didn't get the last A__. I bet you got them all Tenth!"_

"_Umm… Not really." Gokudera did not see them all, but he did see a C for math._

"No it can't be…"

"Time's almost up. What are you gonna do Gokudera? Are you going to delude yourself? Keep on pretending that the Tenth is all that?"

"But the Tenth saved me when he didn't even know if I was an enemy or not. He made me save my own life when I was fighting Belphegor even though he knew we would lose. He saved my life a lot when we were in the future. Why?"

"Nobody is perfect Gokudera. Even we Arcobaleno have our weaknesses."

"No."

"Time's up. Choose now Gokudera."

Gokudera was paralyzed. His whole world fell before him. He realized what Tsuna really was, a 16 year old struggling with everyday life. Struggling with bullies, the Vongola's enemies and most of all himself.

"_Gokudera's really scary."_

"_Gokudera-kun, you don't really need to."_

"How long has this been going on?"

"Press now Gokudera, or I will destroy this house."

Gokudera stood up and ran towards the detonator labeled a C. He said,

"It doesn't matter if the Tenth is a loser or not…" Gokudera said as he ran.

"…I'll protect him, no matter what."

Gokudera pressed the C detonator.

"Wrong Gokudera."

"What?"

"His grade was actually changed to a B-."

"No…" Gokudera said as he fell to the ground. "I failed the Tenth."

"Don't worry Gokudera." Reborn pressed the red button.

"Reborn-san! What are you doing?"

"The red button is actually used to override the sequence."

"What? So The Tenth is safe?"

"Of course."

"But why?"

"Gokudera, this lesson for you was for you to accept one's limitations. Yesterday, you made a simple mistake by not listening. While you do need to watch out for mistakes, sometimes they lead to good things. Christians actually have a saying, that 'The Lord can make for good what was made for evil.'" Reborn thought deeply.

"But aside from mistakes, we must remember that no-one is perfect. Even I have my own faults. That is why Gokudera, you must accept the Tenth for who he truly is, not someone supernatural and all that great, but as someone human who is also capable of making mistakes."

"I… understand Reborn-san."

"Well done Gokudera, you've passed. Here's a reward." Reborn gave him a piece of paper.

"It's a formula for a new kind of dynamite. I'm pretty sure you'll need sometime soon."

Gokudera received the paper and made a preliminary observation of it. "Arrigato Reborn-san."

"I wanted to test the potency of that formula for today's training. I want you to make a mix of it so we can test it out at the park for training."

Gokudera nodded.

"It's now 3:00 AM. You have 3 hours to prepare the formula so we can test it. Good luck Gokudera."

"Arrigato Reborn-san! I'll prove to the Tenth what I can really do!"

"Don't disappoint me Gokudera, now go."

Gokudera ran towards the door and as he opened it, "Reborn-san, say good morning to the Tenth for me."

Gokudera ran out of the house and ran towards his apartment, ready to start the new day.

He yawned and said to himself, "I didn't get any sleep last night…"

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**And that's a wrap. I hope you didn't find too much OOCness especially with Mukuro and Chrome. I gave them this power, I mean they've already passed through the Future Arc after all. **

**This chapter is called a Prelude of the Things to come because this chapter will be important especially for the future events. It might be best to refer back to this chapter as you go along. **

**Katou: Hey, I like the drama in this chapter, but I thought you were going to do mine this time…**

**A: Gomen ne Katou-chan. I had originally planned to but if I did insert you the chapter would either be way too long or your segment would be way to short. I do promise to write you in the next chapter however. And I promise to include a lot of Katou headlines next chapter.**

**And now…**

**Candy Conjurer Interview Dangerous ~desu! **

**This weeks Guest: Hayato Gokudera**

**A: Nice to meet you Gokudera-san!**

**G: Bah, you made me sound dramatic. At least you gave me a new weapon.**

**A: You weren't actually the original main here, but I decided to change it to make the chapter more meaningful.**

**G: *yawn* You're lazy.**

**A: Why you!**

**And the Interview ends with the Author in a fit of righteous anger.**

**A: I'll hang you Hayato Gokudera!**


	4. Kazumi Katou

**Hello everyone. Before this chapter starts, I'd like to thank xwee and speed and write for their reviews and also my subscribers. Sorry for the little slow updates. I usually publish only once a week. I do apologize because there'll be just a few Katou headlines this time.**

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Chapter 4

Kazumi Katou

There are two people that are the most feared in Nami Middle.

The first is Hibari Kyouya, the head of the discipline committee. People should be wary of him and respect him as much as possible. That was unless of course, they want a taste of his tonfas. Hibari doesn't just love Nami Middle to the point of protecting even the slightest scratch, Hibari is proud of his town called Namimori, though it is unknown why. He enforces his own sort of discipline around town and is one of the reasons why no criminal would dare to even try committing a crime within a 5 km radius of his presence.

The other one is a recent addition to Nami Middle. She is a tabloid reporter, out to get the latest gossip surrounding the students. She is a red head with her hair bound in a single ponytail, has freckles around her cheeks and wears square and black rimmed glasses. Behind those glasses are persuasive dark aquamarine eyes which appear to have a sort of hypnotic charm around them, allowing her to make someone reveal their deepest and darkest secrets. Further behind those eyes is a cold and calculating personality, capable of manipulating virtually any person according to her will with a simple twist of tongue. She is armed with several devices including a hidden camera, a tickler in her pocket, a small checkbook for bribing and a pen much sharper than her own tongue. All of which have one purpose, to obtain information on the gossip and scandals surrounding Nami Middle's Students. Her name is Katou Kazumi of Class 2-A.

But however did Kazumi end up in Tsuna's world? What will she be to Tsuna and the Vongola? Will she be a hindrance? Is she an ally? Could she be actually a spy? And where does she get those headlines?

To begin with, we must yet again flashback to the past, just a little after Tsunayoshi Sawada and his friends came back from the future.

_Monday at Nami Middle…_

A girl in a Nami Middle Uniform arrived at the entrance of Nami Middle. She had vivid red hair, dark aquamarine eyes covered by a pair of black square glasses, white skin and stood at a height of 5 ft. She had black leather shoes and white socks with a handbag hanging on her left shoulder and a pen in her breastpocket.

"So this is Nami Middle…"

The girl heard a group of male voices behind her. She could hear three voices, one undoubtedly angry, another calm and carefree and yet another trying to becalm the angry one. All of them were male. She turned around and saw the group. The first one she saw was the one who was calm. He had black hair, brown eyes, tall and slightly muscular with a baseball bat attached to his backpack. The other one who was shouting at him had silvery white hair and grey eyes and was slightly shorter than the first. The third was one person she was familiar with. She shouted,

"Hentai Tsuna!"

_Flashback to the previous day…_

"Kyoko-chan, thank you for bearing with me for the day."

"It's nothing Katou-chan. Or should I call you Kazumi-chan." Kyoko reassured.

"Gomen nasai Kyoko-chan, but no-one is allowed to call me Kazumi until I'm 16."

"Doushite?"

"Some family tradition. Nonetheless my birthday will be coming soon."

"I see. Why'd you come back to Japan anyway?"

"I heard from Hana-chan's e-mails that you been disappearing quite a lot these days. I persuade my parents to continue my schooling in Japan so I could keep an eye on you."

"Arrigato Katou-chan."

"Are you going to Haru-chan's school?"

"Nope, I'll be going to Nami Middle so I can really keep an eye on you."

Both the girls giggled at each other.

"Katou-chan, remember your promise to me a long time ago?"

"What was it?"

"That you'd become a famous reporter someday?"

Katou looked back to the old days. "Ah yes, I've been training really." She produced a wire with a lens at the end from her pocket.

"I often keep a hidden camera to record events as they go, but it doesn't have that much of a range. So I have to use…" She dug through her bag. "…this."

She held a camera of the latest model from her bag. It was colored black and had several features in it.

"Otou-san gave it to me as an advanced birthday present. It's from America."

"Amazing!"

"Not as amazing as you Kyoko-chan. Hana-chan as well." Katou remembers a day that passed by so long ago…

_Yet another Flashback, to the day when the three met…_

_A young girl sat down all alone on a swing, she was waiting for her mother to come and fetch her. Her mother was always busy with work, doing it for her family._

"_Hey, Katou-chan? Wan't to play?" two girls came along to Katou._

"_Sasagawa-chan, Kurokawa-chan. Konichiwa."_

"_Why are you waiting here Katou-chan?" asked Hana. _

"_My mother's working really late so I have to wait for her. Otou-san's working abroad."_

"_I see. Well then, let's play together!"_

_And the three girls played happily on the swings. Later that afternoon,_

"_Kyoko, Hana, time to go." An elder woman said._

"_Sayonara Sasagawa-chan, Kurokawa-chan."_

"_Call me Kyoko Katou-chan."_

"_Call me Hana."_

"_Umm… could we be… friends?"_

_The two girls looked back and held her hands reassuringly._

"_Sure!" They replied at the same time._

"I was just a mere stranger. Even though, you still came up to me without knowing who I really was. That's why, you're amazing Kyoko-chan."

"Arrigato Katou-chan."

"Kyoko-chan! Katou-chan!"

Two girls came along and rejoined the other two.

"Miura-chan, Hana-chan. Konichiwa."

"Likewise Katou-chan."

"Haru is very pleased to meet you! ~desu."

"The pleasure is all mine Miura-chan."

"Shall we go?" suggested Kyoko.

The group of four walked back to the bridge that connected their home district with the shopping district. Katou stayed at the other side of the bridge and said,

"Gomen ne, my home is at this side of the bridge. I'll have to leave you all here."

"It's alright Katou-chan. Come visit us tomorrow alright?" said Kyoko.

"Hai!" answered Katou. "Ja ne!" She shouted to the other three.

"Ja ne!" the others replied in chorus.

Suddenly, a man came upon the three other girls.

"Well, well missies. Are you lost? I can give you a ride home for some fun."

Hana placed Haru and Kyoko behind her back.

"What makes you think we'll come with you freak?"

"You brat! I'll kill you!"

The man aimed for Hana and formed a fist in order to punch her. Hana blocked with a karate block.

"Mina-san! Are you alright?"

"So you're one of those kung fu kids eh? Well then, I might as well deal with your other girlfriend there." The man dashed through the three girls and ran towards the other girl, wielding a deadly knife in his hands.

"Tomare!" A brunette boy suddenly appeared in front of Katou.

"Sawada, you're late."

"Umm… I was trying to prevent Gokudera-kun from hitting Yamamoto-kun."

"Tenth!"

"Tsuna!"

Two new voices were heard. Gokudera and Yamamoto appeared from afar at the left side of the bridge.

"You useless crap!"

Reborn was silently watching from afar. Instead of his usual chameleon, he had a sniping rifle with him aimed at Tsuna.

"Save that girl with your dying will." Reborn shot a red bullet from the weapon. The bullet shot Tsuna and hit him at the back of his head. It looked like he absorbed it. Strangely, his clothes ripped and left him in his underwear. When he stood up, he did a somersault and said,

"REBORN!"

Tsuna now rejuvenated had a flame on his head and his eyes appeared on fire.

"Save the girl with my dying will!"

"Nani?!" asked a bewildered Katou.

Tsuna charged at the assailant and knocked him unconscious, still with knife at hand. The assailant was weak and fell immediately.

"Tsuna-kun!" called Kyoko. The flames on his head began to disappear.

"What… happened?"

Tsuna suddenly felt a little cold an realized something. He was wearing his underwear, again.

"Tsuna-san! Thank you for saving us! ~desu." Haru was in an inexplicable state of bliss.

Katou snapped back to reality while seeing Tsuna being praised by Kyoko and Hana being indifferent as usual. She felt for the hidden camera and attached the memory card to her pocket palmtop and observed the fight.

_This is good stuff!_

Katou took out her notebook and pen and began to write down.

"What is your full name Mr. 'Tsuna'? and how are you related to Kyoko-chan?"

"Umm…"

Katou began to take pictures of Tsuna in his underwear while Tsuna desperately tried to cover himself.

"Interesting indeed."

"Yup, that's Sawada Tsunayoshi." Yamamoto approached Katou. Katou paused taking pictures and looked at the speaker.

Katou saw that he had gorgeous black hair and amber eyes, slightly tall and muscular body with a handsome face and aura.

_We've only just met. Why do I feel like this about that guy?_

"Konichiwa. My name is Yamamoto Takeshi. Pleasure to meet you."

"Umm… likewise." Yamamoto turned into a skeptical face.

"Tenth!" a silver haired youth appeared near Tsuna. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine nothing to worry about Gokudera-kun."

"Arrigato Tenth!"

"And this is Gokudera Hayato."

"Yamamoto-san, does Tsuna always do this?"

"Well, it happens when he tries to protect someone. His clothes suddenly rip and just leave him in hi boxers."

_Does he have to mention that?_ Thought Tsuna.

_So he must be a hentai!_ Thought Katou. "This'll be a good headline for the school paper, **Is Sawada Tsuna a Hentai?!**" Tsuna sweatropped. Yamamoto gave him a new set of clothes.

"Mina, we must be going now. It is rather late." Said yet another new voice.

"Reborn-san!"

"Bozu!"

"Ciaossu. Well then, we must go." And with that, the group disbanded.

_Returning to Monday Morning…_

Katou immediately began to take pictures of Tsuna. Tsuna kept on sweatdropping.

"Umm… Katou-san. You don't really have to do this…"

"A reporter must never miss a single detail! This'll make a good headline, **Nami Middle Has Stripping Hentais?!**"

"Katou-chan!" a female voiced piped.

The junior photographer stopped taking pictures of the so called pervert and turned to face the lady who had called her, who was Kyoko.

"Kyoko-chan! Ohayo gozaimasu!"

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Katou-chan, Tsuna-kun, Yamamoto-kun and Gokudera-kun."

"Ohayo Kyoko-chan." Tsuna said modestly. Tsuna noticed that Katou had been taking pictures of him blushing while looking at Kyoko.

"Ohayo Sasagawa-chan!" greeted Yamamoto.

"Hmph." Was all Gokudera could say.

"We should be getting to class now." suggested Tsuna while Katou was still taking pictures.

_So hentai Tsuna likes Kyoko-chan eh? This could make another good headline, _**Hentai Tsuna likes School Idol Kyoko?!**

Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Kyoko and Hana walked towards their class. Katou stopped taking her pictures and proceeded to the principal's office to make the last minute arrangements. They soon sat down to their seats and proceeded to different activities to pass by the time. Tsuna fiddled with is Vongola Ring. Gokudera was calculating some trajectories of his dynamites. Yamamoto was sleeping and daydreaming about baseball. Kyoko and Hana were talking about yesterday's events.

A little later, Yamamoto stiffened up and the teacher walked in.

"Good morning class." The teacher walked in calmly and took the table at the far right of the room since the door was at the far left. She took the attendance sheet and began to check attendance. Finally,

"Yamamoto?"

"Present!"

"Now, we'll be having a new student transfer to our class today."

Katou walked in the the room with dignified grace and innocence. Tsuna stared at her, hard. Very hard. He felt that he had frozen. He had never feared a person, not even Byakuran to that kind of level. Maybe because she was technically a stalker.

"Konichiwa mina-san. My name is Katou Kazumi. I'm Japanese but I've been staying in America for the past seven years. I hope we can get along."

Katou looked like an angel, to the unobservant onlooker. She was beautiful and mysterious behind her black rimmed glasses and innocent demeanor. She was hypocrital, wonderful to behold on the outside, cold in the inside. Tsuna saw that he wasn't the only one who saw through her shell, Yamamoto appeared to be reacting as well.

"By the way Katou-san, the Nami News adviser would like to see you and talk to you on something important. Please meet him later."

"Hai, sensei."

"Now take the seat beside…" the teacher looked around and saw that the seat at Yamamoto's right was vacant. "…beside Yamamoto."

Yamamoto put on a fierce sulk instead of his usual carefree demeanor. Katou took the seat beside Yamamoto without hesitation. The teacher began to blabber about reports, Tsuna desperately trying to stay awake and Yamamoto not sleeping.

"That's a miracle Yamamoto-san." The teacher commented unremorsefully. "You're actually not sleeping."

"Umm..."

"It must be the beautiful lady at your side isn't it?"

Yamamoto blushed faintly and held his hands out to dispute the accusation. "Of course not!"

"This might make a good headline, **Does** **Baseball Idiot like Future Journalist?**"

The laughter just became louder. When the laughter died down, Yamamoto started a conversation with Katou.

"What are you after Katou-san?" Yamamoto interrogated.

"Nothing at all Yamamoto-san. Nothing at all." She replied normally but Yamamoto noticed something eerie in it.

During lunch, Yamamoto, Gokudera and Tsuna decided to have lunch together. Kyoko and Hana were discussing girl talk and Gokudera frankly wanted none of it.

On the way to the school grounds, they encountered Reborn appearing from one of his several hiding places, from a hidden door.

"Ciaossu."

"Bozu."

"Reborn!"

"I'm disappointed Tsuna, very disappointed." Reborn looked up at Tsuna. Tsuna sighed,

"What is it this time?"

"With your Hyper Intuition, I still do not understand how you are unable to see that the girl could be a potential family member?"

"Demo," Gokudera intruded. "I thought we stopped recruiting members a long time ago."

"To a boss, there can be no end to recruiting members. You are the Sky, open to all."

"That is true, but…" Yamamoto explained. "I don't think we can trust her immediately. We can't just go recruiting members immediately just like that."

"Honestly, I don't feel anything from her." butted Tsuna.

"Demo, Tsuna!" Yamamoto replied with slight annoyance.

"Now now Yamamoto-kun. I never said anything about recruiting her just yet. Maybe we will, maybe we won't."

"Gomen nasai Tsuna." apologized Yamamoto. "I'm sorry for acting Gokudera-like."

"What was that baseball idiot?!"

"Oh nothing, nothing at all."

"Why you…" Tsuna restrained Gokudera from punching Yamamoto. Gokudera was definitely in deep rage.

"Now, now Gokudera-kun."

"From what I see Yamamoto, what you're feeling isn't suspicion, but jealousy."

"Why Bozu?" Reborn smirked.

"You'll find out very soon."

* * *

**And that's a wrap. The previous chapter we had was full of some mini mysteries and a little bit of drama. This chapter was interesting in that it's made up of flashbacks within flashbacks and there are still flashbacks within those. Of course flashbacks are an important feature of any tale.**

**I'd also like to apologize for the insufficient Katou headlines I promised. They're running jokes anyway, not that they're supposed to be funny.**

**By the way, you might notice that I switched back to Yamamoto at the flashback part. This is because Yamamoto wasn't Takeshi yet so it seemed apt that he be Yamamoto.**

**To clear things up, I've set the date of the first part, As in Katou-chan's arrival, to sometime in March. Since the Future Arc was set a little late into Tsuna's second year, I bet it is also right that this story should start somewhere near the second semester, spring so I don't have to deal with snow. **

**Candy Conjurer Interview Dangerous! ~desu will continue next week. I'll make a double interview next week.**


	5. Mist Dynamite

**Candy Conjurer is back! Let's see what happens this time… **

**Due to my lateness, I have published a double chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 5

Mist Dynamite

The three Mafioso went towards a park. The park was a commonly used one and there were a lot of people in the vicinity. Chrome was at the entrance of the park. Ryohei was also somewhere faraway, running laps. Lambo and Ipin were also at the park playing.

"Boss, should I set it up now?"

"Please do Chrome."

Chrome concentrated and produced a knife from her bag. It had three prongs and at Chrome's command lengthened into a trident. She concentrated and soon the entire park was wrapped in mist. Then it started to rain. The rain caused the people to leave, except for Ryohei, Lambo and Ipin. It was like they didn't see the rain.

"Your illusions are getting stronger Dokuro-san." Commented Yamamoto.

"Arrigato Yamamoto-san."

"Well then, let's start training." Reborn appeared from the park wall dressed in his usual mafia suit. The group walked towards a clear field of grass. Chrome, Gokudera and Yamamoto separated from the group and trained on their own.

"This will be training on speed. While you are certainly fast enough in your Hyper Dying Will mode, you won't get too much if you keep on training in that mode."

"So what do we need to do?"

"Remember that Dying Will mode magnifies your abilities according to how powerful your Dying Will flames are and how powerful your resolve can become. Therefore, we need to now concentrate on your natural abilities. First will be speed."

"Speed?"

"Run around the park for ten laps. Then we'll call it a day. Tommorow morning we'll be doing our usual routine only faster. Understood?"

"Hai."

"Then let's get started."

_Wednesday Morning…_

Gokudera pored over the chemical formula given to him by Reborn. It was written on parchment, probably as old as 70 years. The formula was not that complex and he had all the reagents required but some which could be easily prepared but he asked himself,

_What good will this do?_

Gokudera began gathering the reagents required as well as the materials. He took out some droppers, half-liter and one liter beakers, Erlenmeyer flasks of 5 different sizes, a rack of six test tubes. He also prepared some chemicals and a digital weighing scale. He set the materials at his small laboratory. Then he read the formula,

Mist Dynamite v. 5.1

Created by Vongola Eigth's Storm Guardian

Description:

Contrary to popular belief, dynamite is not an entirely offensive weapon. Used correctly, it can be used defensively and to support the team. This weapon called the Mist Dynamite was created for a mission where our Mist Illusionist was unavailable so I had to fill in for him. This formula upon explosion creates long lasting mist and should the mist need to be dispelled immediately, a counter formula has been provided. The reagents also silence the explosion and can also be used for training speed. The mist concentrates on people who do not have any metallic objects on their body. Other than the counter formula, the only way to dispel the mist is by running from it.

"Interesting…"

Gokudera started preparing the reagants for the so called Mist Dynamite. Gokudera brought the chemicals to a small laboratory, organized them according to the order prescribed by the manual and began arranging the apparatus. The laboratory was made of cement floor and white tiled walls. Gokudera took a lab coat hanged on a nearby hook along with some gloves and some red rimmed googles. He walked towards the fume hood because one of the first steps was to create a chemical that would have produced a toxic fume. He adjusted the temperature of the hood to cool to make sure that the explosion would not proceed too violently.

While he worked, explosions were heard throughout the building. He was living in the Vongola Mansion in Namimori, along with another Vongola family member. The other member was rather indifferent and occasionally they engaged in a conversation. His housemate had blonde hair and sparkling cyan eyes. Gokudera noticed that he preferred to dress in light, loose clothes and was often dressed in aquamarine, sapphire or light blue robes. He did not even know his name. The housemate knocked the door to Gokudera's room and hearing no reply whatsoever decided to enter the room. He saw that there was not a soul in the living room and he had tried checking the sleeping quarters and found the sounds of explosions coming from the special door there. It was the door to the laboratory. He pressed the doorbell and after hearing no effort to reply, he barged in and saw that his housemate was at the far eastern corner of the lab, at a table. He walked cautiously at the investigator who was working on dropping the right amount of fluid into a test tube. As Gokudera was about to drop the liquid he tapped him at the shoulder and caused the chemist to drop the glass dropper onto the table causing it to break and allowing the fluid to flow out of the broken container and dissolving the table.

"HEY! WHAT GIVES BLONDE NERD?!" Gokudera angrily shouted while the housemate covered his ears.

"I advise you to stop calling me that. Besides, you're a nerd as well." The housemate pointed out.

"But at least I engage in sports. I bet you waste the rest of your days here reading and letting your body go to waste." The chemist argued back.

"Nope. In reality I practice fighting a lot. You may not know this, but this mansion does have a training facility." denied the housemate.

"For explosives. I bet not." Gokudera replied. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"Octupus-head, you weren't home last night and thankfully I slept well. Now, it's 4 AM in the morning and you're making explosions. My rooms just below this one you know."

"Yeah I know bookish idiot."

"Good grief. If this is for some good cause, I might as well start making breakfast. What are you making anyways?" the housemate took the formula and examined it for a while.

"Mist Dynamite huh. Vongola Ottavo's Storm Guardian was a real dynamite enthusiast. Come to think of it, I think this part here is a misprint on Reborn-san's part."

"Reborn? Wrong? You've got to be kidding me."

"Yeah. This should actually be two parts copper. Anyways, you might want to know that this very mansion was the Eighth Storm Guardian's summer house in Japan. In fact," the housemate walked towards the table at the western part of the lab. He turned right and arrived at a bookshelf placed on high on the wall. The housemate took out a book called 'Burn Book'. The book was colored blue.

"The Storm Guardian had a really deep hatred for the Rain Guardian of the Eighth. He wrote all his hatred deep into this book."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Gokudera was slightly interested after all. That meant that he wasn't the only one who had some kind of resentment towards their Rain Guardian.

"This isn't the real thing. Truth is, the Storm Guardian never did make the book materialize. It's actually a fake."

"What?!"

"This book is an out of place one. Open it please." His housemate gave it Gokudera who had now come near him due to interest."

Gokudera opened it and saw that it had a hollow book with fake pages. There was a dynamite inside the book.

"That dynamite stick can only be ignited by Storm Flame. Try it."

Gokudera tried to get resolve through him. Soon, he felt the flame ignite his Vongola Ring of Storm a bright red. He let the wick of the dynamite touch the flame and the fuse soon began to burn. The dynamite exploded with little force, leaving a key in Gokudera's hand.

"That key is the key to a keyhole where that book was." The housemate pointed to the hollow shelf. Nothing more need be said as Gokudera inserted the key into the hidden keyhole.

"From what I've read, there should be a passage at your living room quarters." Gokudera ran to the living room.

"I'll continue the formula. How many sticks do you want?"

"I need 10."

The housemate did not put on a lab coat or gloves. He set to work immediately.

The white haired youth ran towards the living room quarters. Behind the sofa, he saw a spiral set of stairs. The corridors of which were ignited by Red Storm Flames. He carefully walked down the stairs, though rather impatient of waiting. At the end of the stairs was a hall. The hall was made of what appeared to be carved stone blocks, but in reality they were just stone blocks made from cement. When he reached the end of the hall, he saw that there were many wooden boxes. Each was labeled with Japanese characters, probably because it wouldn't be a hassle to label them compared to labeling them in Italian or English. He examined each box and saw that there were dynamite sticks inside each. He looked at his watch and saw that it was already 5:30.

"I'll check on this later."

He ran out and returned to his housemate at the lab.

"Octupus-head. The formula and counter formula is already done. I also prepared the sticks."

"Thanks blonde nerd. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Gokudera Hayato, the Vongola Tenth's Storm Guardian and right hand man."

"Vongola… Tenth?! He's here in Namimori?!"

"I'm surprised, you know a lot about the Vongola but you don't even know about the Tenth."

"Truth is, I've been running for my life until just recently. Anyways, I'm Riebure Furansisu. Pleased to finally know you Gokudera-san."

Both of them shook hands. "Well I'm off blonde nerd!"

"See ya octopus head."

Gokudera left the house excitedly. _Time to prove myself to the boss!_

The Storm Guardian ran quickly to the park in Namimori.

_Back at the Lab…_

The housemate looked at the substance and saw a hole with red goo that had pierced a hole and entered his domain. He peeped and saw that it had damaged his desk.

"I'll make him pay for that. Literally."

_Tsuna's house…_

"Of the Varia, the one who does the most outbursts is Superbi Squalo. The number one in 'Sulleness' is probably Xanxus, though it could be Leivathan or Marmon. The number one in 'Scheming' could be their hacker but it could be Bel as well…" Fuuta was making rankings in his sleep, as ranking was his specialty.

"Reborn, Reborn. Oh please touch me there Reborn!" Bianchi blurted out. Tsuna woke up and found himself floating in air.

"Good grief."

"Tsuna-san! Save us!" called out Ipin.

"Ipin, throw a Gyoza Fist at Fuuta will ya?"

"Hai. Gyoza Fist!"

Gas came out from Ipin's hand. Soon, Fuuta was under its influence and was brought to the ground. Fuuta woke up with a start and the floating objects, including Bianchi were dropped.

"Ipin. Did you really have to do that?"

"Gomen nasai. Tsuna-san made me do it."

Bianchi woke up from what looked like a trance.

"I was having a dream… a nice one as a matter of fact."

_With all that moaning?!_

"I was dreaming about Reborn giving me a massage."

_Phew… I really thought that it was… Damn you Tsuna! Stop thinking evil thoughts!_

"What evil thoughts?"

"Reborn!" Tsuna had looked back and faced the doorway when Fuuta was complaining and had unfortunately landed into Reborn's line of sight. For the first time ever since they had been together, Tsuna saw Reborn's nerves protruding out of his head. He was very, very angry.

"Now, now Reborn…" Reborn calmed down.

"I'll punish you later. We have training today remember?" Tsuna nodded. He went out of the room and quickly dressed himself. Ipin had gone out of the room as well. When they were out, the previous scene replayed itself. Lambo was there as well in very heavy sleep, with the occasional grenade floating out of his afro.

Tsuna felt the cool morning breeze through his body.

"Get to the park in half the time we usually do. If you're late, I'll make you pay 100 million yen."

_WHAT THE?!_

Tsuna ran faster than before. He reached the park just on time.

"Record time. Though I'm still punishing you for before."

_I should really get used to this by now…_

"Of course you should. The mafia always live in danger so it helps to be prepared."

The two walked to the center of the park for training.

"Tenth!"

"Gokudera-kun!" The Tenth walked towards Gokudera eagerly.

"Now that we're here, Gokudera explain to him how this training works."

"Before that, Tenth please remove any metallic object from your body."

"I didn't bring anything…"

"Let's proceed then. I've created a new dynamite formula called 'Mist Dynamite'. This can create Mist, much like a smoke bomb. This Mist is almost impenetrable, it can extinguish emergency flares and can only be dispelled through three methods." Gokudera paused and took out two objects, one on each hand.

"At my left here is a dynamite stick that contains a counter formula. This can dispel the Mist Dynamite instantly. At my right is a coin, any metallic object is capable of dispelling the Mist. The last method is by running fast enough so you leave the mist behind. The test here is intuition without your dying will. We'll develop your intuition and memory and see if you can find your way out of the mist." the dynamite expert pocketed the two objects and pulled out an indigo dynamite stick labeled Mist v5.1

"One last thing. Don't worry about getting hit. These dynamites aren't designed to be destructive but they aren't loud either. I'll be throwing them at random so you can avoid them. But if you do get hit directly you'll be trapped in the mist. Got it?" Tsuna nodded.

"Then let's start. Mist Bomb!" Gokudera threw a lighter stick of indigo colored dynamite at Tsuna. Tsuna had good reflexes and dodged to the right and chopped the dynamite to change its trajectory. However, the bomb exploded upon contact, creating mist.

_What the heck?!_

"Tenth, are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. So all I have to do is run or find some metallic object right?" Tsuna tried to remember what he could about the park. If he was right, the clearest path would be,

"East." He shifted to the right and ran in that direction. Briefly, it felt like the mist had lightened up but he soon gave up and tried catching his breath. The mist grew thick again.

_Let's see. I moved east so I should be near the old sakura tree. It should be…_

"North." He walked a few steps to the north and after a while felt something light drop on his head,

"A feather. The old sakura tree did have a bird's nest in it." Tsuna closed his eyes and felt where the wind was at its weakest. Soon, he felt the trunk of the old sakura tree.

"There's a metallic bench there to the southwest. That should dispel the mist." Quickly, he ran towards the metallic bench. He went rather fast and had soon forgotten that the mist could be dispelled by speed. Soon he was out of the mist and headed towards the direction of the metallic bench. He found that he could no longer stop himself so in desperation, he leapt high into the air and landed on the bench's platform and jumped immediately to the opposite side. Then he landed face first into the grass.

"Ow."

"Very good intuition Tsuna. But let's try it a little different this time." Gokudera focused on his target. He made invisible diagrams and trajectories in the air much like a robot.

_That'll be perfect._

"Mist Bomb!" Tsuna saw it and evaded it easily. He saw a ten yen coin on the grass and grabbed it immediately to repel the mist.

"Give me that coin Tsuna. Now, Gokudera will throw the remaining eight Mist Dynamites at you. Blinfolded."

_Oh god no…_

Tsuna sighed. "Just give me the blindfold Gokudera-kun." Tsuna took the red colored blindfold and tied it behind his head. Though he couldn't see the anything through the blindfold, it was like as if he could see silhouettes of the objects in his surroundings.

"Tsuna, do you see anything?"

"Yeah. I can see the outlines of most objects though everything's pretty much dark."

"As I thought. I'll explain later. Let's continue training."

"Tenth? Shall we begin?"

"Hit me with your best shot Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna taunted and ran away mischievously from Gokudera. Gokudera smirked.

"Mist Bombs!"

Tsuna expected that the bombs would be released at the same time, but what he did not expect was that this batch was similar to the Rocket Bomb, they could change trajectory. But these bombs appeared to be able to follow him. He felt a twig nearby and aimed it at one of the bombs. The bomb hit the twig and exploded silently into mist. It had exploded a little far from Tsuna and dispersed immediately.

_There's still seven bombs out there._

He ran towards the old Sakura Tree and as he neared the tree, he instantly switched direction. The bombs were too slow and soon they all exploded. Tsuna removed his blindfold.

"Well done Tenth!"

"That was a little too sloppy there." Commented Reborn. "I'd say a little bit below average. Though you passed."

_Sadist…_

"I'm still not forgiving you for thinking about that with me and Bianchi."

_Uh-oh…_

"Reborn!" Bianchi came out of nowhere. Like a stop, drop and roll drill, Gokudera fell on his back.

"Big sis…"

"Hayato, Hayato. You should really see a doctor these days. What if you give out on one really important battle?"

_Oh that won't happen sis. As long as you're NOT THERE._

"Ow, my stomach."

"Don't worry Dame Tsuna. Bianchi, could you carry him back to the house?"

"Of course. And once we're there I'll give you those special cookies I used to make for your recitals."

Gokudera's eyes became as wide as saucers. As he was dragged away,

"TENTH!"

"They have such a strange relationship. I'm glad I'm an only child."

"Iemitsu once told me you did have an older brother."

"I did? The only person I'd call a big brother would be Dino-san. Hmm…" Tsuna thought. "What about you Reborn?"

Reborn turned silent. Gravely silent.

"I… did have an older brother."

"What happened to him?" There was a long period of silence. Only the morning breeze could be heard blowing the spring leaves through the park.

"Well Tsuna, if we don't hurry we'll be late for Maman's breakfast. If you don't run, I'll eat your share again."

_Reborn… Come to think of it, who was he? Takeshi-kun never really got around to telling us._

* * *

**Yet another short one. I know, I'm really slow. The real action will start in Chapter 11. I've outlined the plot and trust me, it is going to be really long one. And I apologize for zero Katou lines again. You might wonder about the new character I've introduced, Furansisu Riebure (Furansisu is his first name). He'll be a little later so stay tuned. **

**Who exactly is this so called older brother of Reborn? Does Tsuna really have an older brother? What really was Bianchi dreaming of? We might never know, for now.**

**Candy Conjurer Interview Dangerous will be moved to every ten chapters so wait for Chapter 10. **


	6. Kenji Mizuki

**Sorry for the lateness! Here's the next one…**

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Chapter 6

Kenji Mizuki

There was a house quite near the Sawada household, just beside it. One balcony was so near the other that it was possible to jump from one to the other. The house had but one occupant, a male teenager aged 16 who called himself Kenji Mizuki.

Kenji was quite tall for his age, about 5 feet and four inches. He had chocolate brown hair, amber orbs for eyes, bushy eyebrows and a lightly tanned complexion. He wore a polo shirt made of horizontal light brown and white stripes, blue jeans and white shoes. Currently, he was at the front of his home. His old home.

"Home sweet home. Maybe I'll surprise Tsuna tomorrow."

He produced a key from his pocket and inserted it through the keyhole of the doorknob. He went in and noticed that the place being unoccupied for about a year was dusty. He went towards the kitchen and obtained a cup of instant noodles from the shelf. He heated some water and later poured it into his cup. As he waited, he opened his laptop and noticed an e-mail from a certain friend.

From: Tsunayoshi Sawada

Hey Kenji! How're you doing there? I hope you're okay. My life's been a little bit rough for quite some time now. Sorry about not contacting you for the past month. My friends and I went on a picnic and got lost, twice. I'll make it up to you though. Tell me when you're coming to Japan!

Then he started typing a reply.

To: Tsunayoshi Sawada

Yo Tsuna! I'll be seeing you real soon. I'll be coming back to Japan for quite a while. It's vacation on my side of the world so I'll be coming for a visit. Maybe I'll take classes at Nami Middle for a while. Hehehe. Till then!

Then Kenji finished his noodles. He washed the utensils and threw the plastic at the garbage can. A little while later, the doorbell rang. He walked towards the entrance of his humble home.

The man at his doorstep had blonde hair and was wearing a black suit. A limousine was at the road waiting for him.

"Ah, Mr. Sawada. How can I help you?"

"The luggage you ordered from Italy, I brought it with me. I'll tell my men to place it at your living room."

"Thank you very much." Kenji motioned him to sit down at the living room. Men in suits came and one by one deposited suitcases and boxes of various sizes at the living room.

"Aren't you going to visit Tsuna?"

"Oh, I'll just surprise him tomorrow." Kenji answered. "By the way Mr. Sawada, Happy Birthday."

"Thank you."

"I'll give my gift at the party this Tuesday. It's at the Vongola Mansion right?" his visitor nodded.

"Time for me to go Kenji. See you later!"

"See you Mr. Sawada."

Kenji began to unpack the luggage.

_At the Vongola Mansion…_

The doorbell rang throughout the mansion. Gokudera and Furansisu were watching a movie at the receiving hall. Furansisu walked out and opened the twin doors of the mansion. A man in a black suit appeared in front of him.

"Good afternoon Signore Riebure. I trust you've already been informed about the festivities this Tuesday."

"Ah yes. Please come in." Furansisu let a group of ten men all in a file. Soon they faced towards right in a single line. He began to give orders like a general.

"You've already been informed of the decoration plans so please do your jobs. If you need anything, just refer to your blueprints of the mansion. You are not allowed to enter either my room or my housemate's room. Your quarters have already been decided. Again, refer to the blueprints. Did you get all that?" all the men nodded.

"Then begin."

_At the Sawada household…_

"Nana, I'm home!" said Iemitsu Sawada as he burst through the door of his house.

"Iemitsu!" Nana dashed through the door and hugged her husband.

"Otou-san!" Without warning, Iemitsu let go of Nana and hugged Tsuna.

"Tou-san…"

"Tsuna."

"Your squishing me…." Iemitsu let go.

"Oops. My bad." Iemitsu laughed lightly while Tsuna sighed. "Is dinner almost ready?"

"In a while dear. Rest at our room first."

"Hey Tsuna! Let's do a little catching up shall we?" Iemitsu winked.

"Ha-ha-hai." Tsuna nervously answered. The two men climbed at to the second floor of the house. At the second floor hallway, they were greeted by Reborn.

"Ciaossu. Iemitsu."

"Reborn."

"Your birthday's this Tuesday right? Where's the venue?"

"We'll be having it at the Vongola Mansion."

"I see. My student here is still doing quite poorly as you can see."

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that. You can mold him into a fine mob boss soon right?"

"Sure. Well then, I have work to do."

"They gave you a target?"

"Yeah."

"See you then." The two men walked to the inside of Iemitsu's room. The older one motioned Tsuna to sit down at the small couch.

"So Tsuna…"

"Umm… Hai?"

"Tell me about your trip to the future…"

_The next morning…_

Tsuna and Fuuta went out of the house in their respective uniforms. Nana was still cooking while Iemitsu was still eating. Bianchi had offered to take Lambo and I-pin to the park to play.

They were greeted by the usual scene though the argument this time was rather different.

"No baseball idiot! If you use that angle and force to hit the ball like that, there's a 25% chance that the ball will be a foul."

"Really? It's never failed for me. What about something like this?" Takeshi swung the bat differently.

"Depends on the wind pattern. But I estimate that if you're using that for Saturday's game, then we'll have to hope you hit it with just the right angle. Force shouldn't be a problem."

"Thanks Gokudera-san."

"Yeah whatever baseball idiot."

"Umm… I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Not at all boss. We just finished actually."

"Sugoi!" a new voice explained. Katou suddenly appeared from behind a short cement wall.

"This week's headline will be **Octopus Head is Smart?!**"

"Shut up. That's old news."

"Oh really, what about last week when you missed that problem and Hentai Tsuna answered it for you?"

"Why you bi…" Gokudera would have lashed out at the evilly laughing Katou, if it wasn't for Tsuna and Takeshi preventing him from doing so. Kyoko and Hana soon arrived and took Katou with them. Then Gokudera calmed down, took some earphones out of nowhere and began to listen to music.

"TO THE EXTREME!!!" Ryohei soon appeared out of nowhere.

"Onii-san!" Tsuna called out.

"MUST RUN TWO LAPS! MUST BEAT SAWADA!!!" He chanted. Tsuna sweatdropped.

"Tsuna. What does senpai mean by 'Must beat Sawada?"

"Ah, senpai and I were having a race last weekend. He lost."

"Wow. Should've been there to see it."

"It wasn't really that worth watching…" _Considering that he lost because of that banana peel…_

The small group soon arrived in Nami Middle. The trio entered their classroom. Hana and Kyoko were discussing fashion trends with Katou. Shoichi was reading a magazine on the latest robots. Hibari appeared briefly in Tsuna's line of sight. There was some rumor going around in the room,

"Did you hear about the new student? They're transferring another one to our class."

"Really? There seem to be a lot of transferees these days."

"It's because of the typhoon earlier this year. Some of the schools were affected a lot and had to close down."

"Anyways what does our new student look like?"

"They say that he's a foreigner from America."

"I heard he was Chinese."

"No way. He's Italian." Tsuna shuddered. Another mafia transferee who wanted to join his family or try to kill him was the last thing he wanted. He'd actually be happy, as long as this one was a normal person. Or maybe… Nah. He said he'd be here by March. Wait a second…

"Settle down class." Their homeroom teacher called. The students scrambled back to their seats quickly and remained silent. Everyone had sat down to listen and put away unnecessary objects.

"Once again, we'll be having a new student transfer to our class. There have been a lot of transfers lately and in the next few weeks we'll be having more. Some of our applicants are actually foreigners though I wonder…" _Why Namimori of all places_ thought the teacher.

"Oh, you can come in now."

Keniji Mizuki entered with an air of respect. His chocolate brown hair waved beautifully though it was a mess. On first glance, the whole class fell silent.

"Ohayu gozaimasu. My name is Mizuki Kenji. I'm Japanese though I've been studying abroad. I'm 15 and..." he deliberately paused "…single."

At his last word, the silence turned into squeals. Tsuna could've sworn that the eyes of majority of the female population had turned into hearts. Their tongues were out and they panted like puppies.

"He's gorgeous!"

"He's so damn hot!"

"How can a guy like that be single?" Kenji sweatdropped at their comments. He scanned the room and there he saw his target. "Tsuna!"

"Kenji!" Then the female population transformed their infatuated orbs into glaring ones. They all stared at Tsuna, jealously.

The classes continued until lunch. Gokudera and Takeshi had decided to discuss some very important matters on baseball, so they left first. Hana, Kyoko and Shoichi formed another group. Katou had been called by the editor-in-chief Kenji invited Tsuna to have lunch and went outside first. Tsuna was about to follow, when he was blocked by the girls.

"Spill hentai!" One demanded.

"Umm… What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ain't it obvious? Just spill the juice." Said another.

"Umm… What juice?"

"You know, the stuff." Said yet another, rather suggestively.

"I really don't understand what you're talking about."

"About the new guy, idiot!" exclaimed one.

Tsuna calmly replied. "Oh Kenji? He's my best friend, since kindergarten."

They all stared at him.

"You've got to be kidding us."

"Nope. As a matter of fact," Tsuna took out his wallet. He produced a picture with him and Kenji standing in front of Tokyo Tower.

"No way."

"Sawada, are you sure he isn't your boyfriend or something?"

"Huh? What made you think that?"

There was a period of momentary silence as the new information registered on the heads of the girls. Finally their leader spoke up,

"We'll make you a deal Sawada." She said in a serious tone. "For every picture you give us of Mizuki-kun, we'll give you 10000 yen."

"You've got to be joking."

"WE ARE NOT JOKING!"

"Demo, I don't have a camera…"

"Come on now, I'm sure you'll find some way of doing it." Insisted one.

"Demo,"

"No buts!"

"Dem-"

"Urusai, urusai, urusai!" They all said in chorus.

"Ok then…"

"Yo Tsuna!" Kenji called out.

"Kenji-sama!" Kenji sweatdropped.

"Coming!"

Tsuna and Kenji finally had lunch together, alone.

_Finally, one of those days where we aren't doing anything mafia related. No Reborn, No Guardians and Ring Conflicts, No more travelling to the future and back. How I wish… _

"You're thinking deep Tsuna, way too deep."

"Well, my life's been pretty crazy for the last few months."

Kenji stopped walking all of a sudden and his eyes narrowed and he frowned. "Kenji?" Tsuna raised an eyebrow. _Does he know something?_

"Ah, sorry 'bout that. I thought my best friend had suddenly been replaced, though I could be right." And they both laughed awkwardly. They walked outside of Nami Middle and reached an old playgroung near Nami Playschool. They sat at the swings. two took out their bentos and started eating.

"Remember this place Tsuna?"

"Course I do."

"It's where we met, there at the swings."

The wind blew gaily at the two friends. It reminded the two of the days long gone, when they were just two kindergarteners just playing. Kenji and Tsuna both loved this place, it was a place of that reminded them of happy times and it also served as a place of comfort.

They had finished lunch early and went back when there was still about 20 minutes before the start of class. There, they were greeted by girls and men who had made a commotion. They appeared to be crowding around Shoichi who was holding a newspaper copy.

They were about to join the crowd, when Takeshi and Gokudera entered the scene and soon, they were surrounded by the curious mob.

"Are you guys really dating?"

"I don't believe it!"

"Are you still virgins?"

"Takeshi-kun! Why'd you pick _him_ over me?"

"Hayato-kun, why is your taste so poor?"

The two guardians were absolutely dumbfounded.

"Na-nani!" They exclaimed at the same time.

Takeshi remained dumbfounded, but Gokudera moved towards Shoichi's table and took the newspaper. As he read the headline and the article accompanying it, his eyes became as wide as saucers. As if on cue, it's writer came in and read the headline aloud,

"**Does Octopus Head like Baseball Idiot?!** Interesting isn't it." Gokudera lunged for the girl and was stopped by the mob.

"Why you…"

"What I'm saying could be true. You two are together all the time, you both disappeared at the same time and you fake it to the public that you constantly bicker "

"Demo, it's always a one-sided argument." interjected Shoichi.

"…when in reality you two are a couple."

Now, it was Takeshi's turn to be mad. He clenched his fists so tight and quickly that the snapping of his knuckles was heard throughout the room. The girls turned to his direction and saw that their precious baseball star, Takeshi Yamamoto, had turned into a frightening monster. His eyes were dark and angry, covered by his raven black hair. They were frightened, so were the others. Out of nowhere, a bamboo blade came out, pursued by blue sparkling flames. While maintaining his darkened amber orbs and anger on the lady offender, he swung the blade into a swordsman's position. Then in a split second, he attacked. The eyes of the crowd watched in fear and awe as he struck Katou with full force.

What came next awakened the senses of the onlookers further. The strike never cut its target, for Katou had somehow blocked the attack and was holding a blade in her hand. The blade was a slender, thin yet strong. It had a beautiful handle and a guard that protected the hand of the warrior carrying it. A rapier.

"When I first saw you…"

"You were blinded by my beauty weren't you?" the scarlet swordswoman intruded.

"…I knew that you were one of 'those' people."

"What are they talking about?"

"Those two…"

Takeshi snapped back to reality and realized that in his blind rage he had attacked Katou Kazumi. He lit his Rain Vongola ring and a soon a small drizzle fell on the room.

Soon, it looked like nothing happened. Tsuna focused his eyes after the scene had ended.

"Rain of Forgetfulness…."

Everyone was suddenly dazed. They all looked at the time and saw that five minutes had passed suddenly without knowing. Katou was smiling at Takeshi. But what lurked behind that smile? Nobody knew. Not even Tsuna's Hyper Intuition could get through her.

Their weapons had disappeared. Gokudera did nothing but watch the scene. He lost his regular composure and had been momentarily shocked at Takeshi's temporary pursuit of vengeance. Sure he was angered, but he had learned to keep his ground especially when the boss was just in front of him. Takeshi was the Guardian of Rain and he was sure that ever since they had met Takeshi was one of the very few people who were impossible to anger. What about Katou? How could she be unaffected by the rain? Where could that rapier come from? How did she hide it?

Class was mostly dull afterwards. They were dismissed before they knew it. Kenji offered to walk Tsuna home; Gokudera had taken Takeshi somewhere else to discuss something with him.

"What was that baseball idiot?! You could have compromised our identity to the world on the spot!"

"I… honestly don't know what you're talking about Gokudera-san."

"Don't lie to me you bastard!" He held his fellow guardian by the collar and pushed him to the wall. "I'm not naïve like you."

"Calm down Gokudera…"

"Tch." Gokudera went. "You of all people, angered by something as simple as a joke."

"Hmph." Gokudera calmed down.

"Alright why exactly did you attack that girl?"

"Because…"

"Because what?"

"She's…"

"What?"

"a member of that clan…"

Gokudera raised an eyebrow at the Rain Guardian. In place of the angry one, he found the apologetic Yamamoto Takeshi with a sad smile. Gokudera eyed him seriously.

"What do you mean by 'that clan'?"

"I'm sorry Gokudera but it's a family matter."

"Tch. Why do you get to keep all the secrets?" Takeshi finally showed his true smile again.

"Because I'm more trustworthy!" Takeshi winked.

"Why you…" Gokudera chased the Vongola Rain Guardian, not wrathfully but playfully.

_Up in the sky…_

"Based on our research on Samuel and Giovanni, unisexual reproduction is impossible for humans. It is highly unethical in most of their cultures."

"Oh dear, what a blunder we made."

"I guess we'll have to try some other planet then."

The spaceship in the sky flew out into the unknown, ever to be seen again.

_With Kenji and Tsuna…_

The two best of friends soon met up with Takeshi and Gokudera. Once again, they were discussing the physics of baseball and Gokudera had begun explaining some principles to him.

"And that's why if there's no air resistance, the path followed by an object in motion is hyperbolic."

"I see."

"Guys." Kenji exclaimed. "We're here."

They had already arrived at the Sawada Household. They knocked on the door and entered.

"I'm home!"

"Tsuna, we'll be waiting at the living room." Suggested Kenji. Tsuna nodded.

"Welcome back." Nana Sawada said as she was chopping vegetables in the kitchen. Iemitsu was at the kitchen, working on some papers.

_Probably matters concerning Vongola._

"Tsuna, who's the new kid?" asked Iemitsu.

"Oh, Kenji came back from abroad."

"Kenji!" Iemitsu's eyes widened with delight.

"Kenji, as in girl magnet, absolutely perfect, to die for Kenji?!" Nana exclaimed. Soon she was placed in a state of bliss.

"Who's Kenji?" Reborn suddenly piped out of nowhere.

"He's Tsuna's best friend."

"Otou-san! Don't tell him that."

"And why not? Best friend? I thought Dame Tsuna had no friends."

"Oh he had one. But he moved away before middle school."

Reborn thought. "Hmm…"

_Uh-oh_

"What is 'Kenji's' family name?"

"I think it was, Mizuki."

An alarm rang from somewhere. "Gotta go. My 'target's' waiting."

"Oh Reborn-kun. When are you going to grow up from your mafia game?"

Reborn snickered. "It isn't a game." Iemitsu and Tsuna bolted up.

"Oh, then get your 'target' then. Don't be late for dinner!" Nana said carelessly.

"I will and no I won't be late."

_Phew… _Both the Sawada men thought.

The three other teens had introduced themselves to each other but were careful not to slip to Kenji anything about how they met. Kenji offered to go to the kitchen to see how Tsuna was doing. At the hallway, he met Reborn.

"Mr. Reborn."

"Mizuki."

"What are you doing here?" Kenji eyed him suspiciously.

"I'm pursuing a target and staying at the Sawada Household."

Kenji let out a relieved sigh. "It's a good thing Mrs. Sawada is rather naïve. But what about Tsuna? How'd you hide yourself from him?"

"That's one of my secrets. What are you doing here?"

"The Varia can't teach me anything anymore so I decided to focus more on my onmyoudo."

"Onmyoudo? You mean… magic?"

Kenji eyed him suspiciously. "Quite recently, a lot of magicians and sorcerers have become active. It's probably because of the English Puritan Church but I don't have all the details unfortunately. You probably don't know about this because you were training Mr. Dino Cavallone."

"I see. Well, my target is waiting. See you later Kenji."

* * *

**Who is Kenji? What really is his relationship with Tsuna and the Vongola? **

**Maybe you expected a flashback? Nope, I'll be making a separate one for specials relating to Sky is the Limit later.**


	7. Table Manners

**Candy Conjurer is back! I'd like to thank my subscribers and the reviewer. Hope you enjoy this extra long chapter! **

**Disclaimer: KHR belongs to Akira Amano-sensei.**

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Chapter 7

Table Manners

March 21st. The Vongola Mansion in Namimori Town was as busy as ever. Riebure was in his room, selecting a proper outfit for the festivities later. Gokudera was doing the same, not that he enjoyed it. But of course, there were going to be games later so he thought that it might be worth it. Men from the Vongola and even CEDEF had still been decorating the mansion. The members of decoration committee were moving famous art pieces all the way from Italy into their proper positions. Not only paintings, but fine art such as sculptures and relics were being moved around into glass cases. The cooking committee members were busy as well. They were preparing the finest of delicacies not only Italian but as well as Japanese, English, Chinese and a touch of English were being prepared. Various aromas from chicken, salads, meats of various kinds, fish and soups filled the air. Occasionally things got burnt. One of the members of CEDEF, Basil, accidentally burnt a Peking Duck because the temperature was one degree higher than what was expected. He was put out of the kitchen and asked to fetch the External Advisor's Wife's Cooking. They explained that even if they hired all the most famous cooks in the world to cook the most divine feast, they could never match the simple yet elegant cooking of Nana Sawada. They actually did hire the best cooks in the world and even they said that Nana's cooking was far superior than theirs. Basil ran out of the mansion and rode a motorcycle to the Sawada Residence.

_At Nami Town Square…_

A small group of Tsuna, Kenji, Hana, Ryohei, Katou, Kyoko, Haru, Takeshi and Shoichi had gathered at Nami Town Square. Tsuna had handed out invitations to them to come to the party later that afternoon. Everyone was told it was a formal party.

Tsuna and Kenji had been doing shopping and had separated from a group of Takeshi, Hana, Ryohei, Kyoko, Katou, Haru and Shoichi.

"Sorry Tsuna, I really can't go."

"But Kenji…"

"As much as I'd hate to miss Iemitsu-oji's birthday party (which I heard would be quite grand), I have my own business to attend to tonight."

"But what kind of business?"

"Family matters." Tsuna sighed. Kenji patted him at the back. "Don't worry Tsuna. There's always next year."

"But what if you can't come back next year?" Kenji began thinking deeply. He replied a little while later,

"Promise, I'll be here next year." Kenji promised. The two then made the pinky swear.

_At a shop nearby…_

"Kyoko-chan, don't you think this would look lovely on you?" Katou pointed to a white gown.

"Katou-chan, isn't that a wedding gown?"

"Oh my, gomen ne." she apologized. "I thought about it because I saw Yamamoto-kun looking in that direction." Takeshi had been glaring fiercely at Katou. Katou looked back at him and made a mischievous smile.

"Katou-chan, I think this would suit her better. ~desu" Hana pointed to a blue gown.

Katou eyed the gown. "Why, it's perfect. Try it on Katou-chan!"

"Demo, even if I do…"

"Nonsense! It wouldn't hurt us if you just tried it right? ~desu"

"Ha-hai."'

Hana and Haru were also trying out their own gowns for the party. Ryohei was in a corner, silently watching the scene. Takeshi was with Shoichi, the latter was trying to find a suit of his own. Takeshi had already found his, so had Katou. Katou approached him and motioned him to go to one corner. Takeshi reluctantly followed though was quite eager to follow. Maybe she was challenging him, he could not know. Soon, they were at the door of the shop. They went out and there their conversation started.

"So, how'd you know I'm a member of 'that clan'?"

"Not just the name, but the way you hold things, clearly resembles the 'that clan's' sword fighting style."

"Before anything else, would you please stop directing your killing intent on me?" Takeshi lightened up but still kept a glare on the girl. He then turned back towards the shop.

"If that's all you wanted to know, I'm going back."

"Matte…" Takeshi turned fiercely to Katou and pinned her to the wall. He said in a coarse and cruel tone,

"We're not going to fall for your lies again. Not ever!" She pushed Takeshi back.

"We didn't kill her. We keep on telling you…"

"It was Eight Blade."

"Yes…"

"I myself don't believe it."

"Demo…"

"Would you stop lying?"

"I…" She was about to cry when, "I lost my father to Eight Blade too…" Takeshi suddenly felt pity for the girl.

"But I'm going to become strong, and one day…" She said through her tears. "I will defeat Eight Blade!" Takeshi could have intimidated her more. Instead, his old self came through and forced him to give her a handkerchief to wipe away her tears.

"Umm…" She received the blue handkerchief. "Thanks."

"This won't change anything."

"Oh I know." She brightened up. "I'll see you on the 24th then?" Takeshi smirked back.

"Of course."

"Oh dear. Let's go, Yamamoto-kun." Takeshi felt light. But deep inside, he was saddened that in a month's time something terrible would happen…

"A life for a life…"

The two had gone into the shop. Kyoko, Hana and Haru were satisfied and already paid for their gowns. Ryohei and Shoichi were the only ones left who still had to find theirs. Ryohei had snapped out of his trance and was cramming and trying to find a coat of his own. Shoichi still could not decide.

"Oh dear, I missed it."

"Missed what? ~desu. "

"Why the chance to take pictures of you in your gowns silly!"

"Hahi…"

Kyoko looked at her brother and Shoichi.

"Irie-san, nii-chan. You two haven't picked a suit yet."

"Umm… I can't seem to decide whether I'll take yellow or red."

"But formal parties are extremely boring."

Tsuna went towards Ryohei's direction and whispered, "Onii-san, Guardians are obliged to come."

"This extremely sucks."

"Too bad your brother won't go Kyoko." stated Hana. "And I was looking forward to seeing your brother behave like a proper gentleman."

"Why, that would make a nice headline! **Extreme Turf Head Boxer turned Gentleman?!**" exclaimed Katou excitedly. "I think it would make a nice front page."

"You think anything's worth placing on the front page." Takeshi pointed out.

"It's not like you actually read the newspaper. I've made the headlines every week."

Takeshi decided not to pursue the matter further, remembering the incident last Monday.

"Not going…" Ryohei said softly. Then he clenched his arms and boxed at the air, "I, RYOHEI SASAGAWA AM GOING TO THAT PARTY TO THE EXTREME!"

"Nii-san. The people are staring at us. Just pick a get-up and go." Ryohei took a white suit and an orange yellow coat underneath. Shoichi picked the red coat.

The group soon went their separate ways.

_At Tsuna's house_…

A knock was hear on the door of the Sawada Residence. Tsuna opened it and saw Basil, a friend and CEDEF member at the doorstep.

"Sawada-dono." He bowed down.

"Basil-kun! Why'd you come?"

"Pardon me for the intrusion Sawada-dono, but the organizers requested me to bring Sawada-dono's kaa-san's cooking."

"Eh?" _It's that good?!_

"Okaa-san! Basil's here to pick up the food."

Basil obtained the food wrapped in seven small bento boxes. The amount was small but anyone inside the house could easily be tempted by the aroma. Lambo and Ipin weren't in the house because they had been buying clothes with Fuuta and Bianchi. He put them in a special box at the back of his motorcycle. Then he drove off to the Vongola Mansion. Tsuna went up and took a warm bath before going to wear his suit.

_Somewhere at the Vongola estate…_

"!" A loud sound was heard throughout the Varia base. It came from a long white haired, shark-eyed man carrying a sword.

"Do we really have to go?" asked a hooded baby with an indigo pacifier on its neck.

"Nonsense. It'll be fun won't it Squalo, Bel?"

"Ushi, shi, shi. I heard that there's going to be a tournament there."

"Tch. It's just going to filled with trash trying to prove themselves 'worthy'."

"But of course Master Xanxus! You are the best out there. None of those dimwits can match to your glory! Marmon, what do you think?"

"Shut up, Levi." answered the hooded baby.

Another high ranked member came in the special hall of the Varia's fortress. Normally, it was reserved for the Xanxus and the five elite Varia members, Superbi Squalo, Lussuria, Belphegor, Marmon and Levi A Than. Occasionally a lower ranked member would come in and bring a message then be scared to death, sometimes literally, of the presence of the five. However, this one was on par with the other five. The messenger had blonde hair and a slightly muscular build. He had alluring cyan eyes. He went in showing almost no emotion, simply to ask his fellow members about their current stand on the issue he was about to present.

"Greetings."

"!" shouted Squalo. "We were doing fine until you came along loverboy."

The new arrival sighed. "Whatever shark-face. I'm here to report your decision on the party. Are you going or not?"

"Isn't it obvious? We don't want to go." answered Marmon.

"But some of us do want to go, what do you think boss?" asked Levi.

The blonde smirked, "Oh, but since it is the external advisor's birthday, his son should be coming along. Or should I say…" he paused. "Vongola Tenth?"

"Uh-oh…" Lussuria said, frightened. The Varia Boss was angry. His hand began to glow orange and his infuriated eyes hidden by his bangs.

"Everyone, to the defense pods! This is a Code BXA!" announced Levi. The members scrambled to their special pods positioned in the room. Unfortunately, there were only five which left the guest unprotected.

Xanxus fired his Flames of Wrath at the visitor. It would have been enough to fry him. When Xanxus finally calmed down so the flames and smoke cleared. What was in place of the target was a mass of purple crystals. Xanxus was slightly amazed by the move. The purple crystals soon broke and left two diamond shaped purple crystals projected from either side of his hands outstretched like one giving praise.

"Tch." Xanxus' applauded and insulted at the same time. "Your pretty pendulums are actually much more useful than they appear. Franz."

"You know." Franz replied as the pendulums disappeared into his sleeves. "If you had brought me in during the ring conflict, you might have won."

"Phew, it's finally over."

The entire room and a large part of the castle had been decimated. Xanxus was on one side of the hall, his throne supported by a single pillar of the castle's structure. Franz was standing on the other end and the rest of the five stood on what had been a wall.

"Maybe, but you were in an emotional breakdown back then." pointed Marmon.

"That's true…" He answered. His face for an instant changed into a piteous one, rare among the Varia. Then, he smirked "So I'm going to tell the Ninth that you're going alright?"

"Whatever, trash. Ushi, shi, shi."

"Go on, loverboy."

"Hmph." To cross to the door, he shot out a pendulum from his sleeve and aimed at the top of the door. He jumped off the ledge and swung like a pendulum into the hallway door. He then disappeared.

"Good grief. Looks like we're going to stay at the hotel again."

_Back at Kenji's house…_

Kenji approached his house with a glum expression. He pressed the key into the keyhole and opened the house. He went to the kitchen shelf and took a cup of seafood-flavored instant noodles. Hot water from the thermos was poured into the plastic cup and he sealed it. He waited for some minutes then began eating worriedly.

_This is going to be tougher than I thought._

"Ciaossu."

Reborn had come into the Mizuki Residence unannounced. He greeted the one person living in it and said,

"What's tough?"

"Varia orders were passed to me to go to the party. But Tsuna also invited me and I told him I couldn't go."

"What's the problem with that?"

"If I meet any of the Varia, they'll recognize me and Tsuna will know…"

"You don't want Tsuna to know about your involvement with Varia?"

"It's not just the Varia…"

"Gah!" he screamed then sighed. "It's complicated."

"Well, you want to go to the party don't you?"

He bolted up.

"It's not just the party." Kenji explained. "With the many Mafiosi present, Tsuna could be placed in grave danger. That's why I have to go."

"I see." A watch on Reborn's wrist beeped.

"Reborn-san, who's the target?"

"Some rogue illusionist." It was Reborn's turn to explain. "I've been trying to catch him for some time now but he's a slippery one. Well then, ciao ciao."

"Gambatte, Reborn-san."

Reborn jumped out of the window. As he went he said to Kenji,

"There are some things we can't avoid. Going against fate is difficult, Kenji."

Kenji snickered. "I know, Reborn-san."

A half-hour passed. Then he heard another knock on his door.

"Come in. It's open. I'm at the kitchen."

He heard the door open and two guys came in. It was Takeshi and Shoichi.

"Yo, Mizuki-san."

"Ah, Irie-san, Yamamoto-san." Kenji welcomed them and led them to the living room.

"Amazing!" exclaimed Shoichi. "The structure of the place, it's quite similar to Sawada-san's."

"Both of our mothers were quite close." Kenji said. "That's why they wanted their houses to be modeled exactly the same."

The three sat down, Kenji at a chair facing the two who were at the couch.

"We need a little help Mizuki-san." Takeshi pleaded.

Kenji softened up and put a smile on his face. "What is it?"

"Sawada-san told us that you were good at dressing up formal."

"Eh? Why me?"

Takeshi answered, "We really didn't know anyone else. Gokudera's busy at the mansion, Senpai doesn't know how to do it either and Tsuna actually recommended you."

_That baka. He must be thinking about that…_

"Well…." He teased. "I don't know… What's in it for me?"

Shoichi and Takeshi looked at each other. _What's in it for me?_

"Irie-san."

"Yamamoto-san."

"We must use that."

"We appear to have no other choice."

Shoichi drew out a CD. It had the label "Cherryblossom" written on it in Japanese Characters with the members comprising the band at the bottom.

_Holy…_

"Where…" Kenji's eyes became unnaturally wide. "…did you get this?"

"Irie-san's brother's friend's cousin's boss's had a copy of the special edition and also…"

"Sawada-san told us about your unnatural Cherryblossom addiction."

_That baka…_

"We'll give you this CD…"

"…in exchange for making us look good."

_Tsunayoshi Sawada, I will kill you._

Kenji was sweating like hell. The irony of it was that it was also Tsuna who caused him to miss a chance at buying that CD. But of course, he wanted that CD even if he had to climb Mount Everest without the supplies, be made to clear Death Mountain, be trained by the insane katekyoushi Reborn, have to bear the weight of the sky like Atlas or sacrifice all of his magic powers. Wait a minute, scratch the last one.

"Alright." He surrendered. "I give up. I'll teach you how to be formal and maybe some table manners."

"Nice one Irie-san!"

"Arrigato Yamamoto-san."

"Good grief."_ Looks like I'm taking after Marmon's habits._ "Now let's start with the get-ups."

The grandfather's clock in the Mizuki Residence rang to notice the occupants that the time was now 2:00 PM. It was only three hours till the start of the festivities. Takeshi had dressed up in a raven black satin coat with a navy blue vest underneath and black pants with leather shoes. Shoichi had dressed up in a yellow coat underneath a brownish and rough overcoat that was unbuttoned at the center. They were sitting at a long dining table at a room at the top of the Mizuki Residence. Kenji had also invited other guests including Ryohei, Chrome, Hana, Katou (Much to Takeshi's dismay), Kyoko, Haru and Tsuna. In order to avenge himself, Mizuki had made Tsuna the waiter.

"Eh, why do I have to be the waiter?"

"It's your fault that I have to teach them."

"But how was I supposed to know that Irie-san's brother's friend's cousin's boss's had a special copy of that CD?"

"Oh you didn't. But it was also your fault that I missed a chance on buying that CD."

"Demo Tsuna-kun, you look cute in that waiter outfit."

Tsuna was wearing a white shirt underneath a thick black tuxedo with a black bow at the neck portion.

_Kyoko-chan thinks I'm cute. _He blushed slightly but Kenji's sharp senses could easily see the change in color. So he countered, with his sharp tongue.

"Tsuna, isn't that actually your get-up for tonight's party. Being the son of the celebrant, I mean no offense, but people might expect more."

_Man, he can be cruel…_

"Matte, that's not a waiter's outfit?" Kyoko asked. "Gomen nasai Tsuna-kun."

"It's alright Kyoko-chan."

_I'd like to tease but since we've got a little time left, oh well._

"Table manners are important in a formal party." Kenji started. "Oh and waiter, stand at my left."

"But Mizuki-san" asked Katou as Tsuna moved towards Kenji's left. "Isn't it a buffet?"

"True, true. But even in a buffet there are still things that need to be observed." He answered. "First things, first. Everyone will observe a napkin at the left side of the table. **Rule #1: Unfold napkin and place it on lap.**"

"Rule#1: Unfold napkin and place it on lap. Got it." Katou had pulled out her notebook and began taking notes.

"Mizuki-san." Chrome said in a soft voice. "Is that the one used by ladies during… you know…"

Tsuna snickered. The response was a sharp kick to his shins, which he deemed impossible considering the attacker's current position, from Kenji.

"Ow."

"The waiter is supposed to behave. You are not allowed speak, open your mouth, move or even breathe."

"Mizuki-san, are you sure about the breathe part?" asked Hana.

"Did I say breathe?" returned Kenji. "No, scratch breathing."

He laughed awkwardly.

_So he still exaggerates. Kenji is still there alright. But, something's different…_

"Now, please unfold your napkins and place it on your laps." Everyone followed the command and soon everyone had napkins on their laps. "Oh, do sit up straight."

Takeshi was about to slouch, but straightened up after.

"Now that's done, let's have a little history on utensils. Waiter, please pass the utensils in that box." Kenji pointed to behind Hana. Tsuna went and distributed the utensils wrapped in a carton box and a red satin ribbon. Once a box had been handed to Kenji, Kenji told them to open the boxes. Each one contained a dagger.

"You might be surprised, but the first utensils were actually daggers. Table manners were developed to prevent violence and promote order. Hence, **Rule #2: Never point a knife at anyone.**"

_That might actually be hard… _

…_considering that it is a mafia party._ thought Kenji and Tsuna.

"Please return the daggers to their boxes and wrap the ribbon around them. Return them to the waiter afterwards."

Once that had been done, "Now, let's discuss utensils. Mr. Yamamoto, please help our waiter pass around the utensil sets."

It took some time for Takeshi and Tsuna to pass the utensils. After a half hour, there were several utensils scattered like a pile on each person's front.

"We'll be arranging utensils so you can be familiar with which one to use."

_At the Vongola mansion…_

"Riebure-san. The white wine glass is between the red wine glass and the water glass." explained Gokudera.

"Should we follow European or American style for the salad fork?"

"European. Most of our guests are from Italy."

Basil appeared from the hall. "Gokudera-dono. The cooks are arguing over whether we should prepare Angel's Food or Devil's Food."

"The external adviser's orders specifically said both." Gokudera changed his language to Italian. "And you can speak Italian Basil, Riebure is quite fluent at it."

"Ah, yes milord. But we've only ingredients for one."

"Then make the cake half Angel's Food…"

"And half Devil's Food."

"Roger!" Basil saluted and left.

"Now about the desert fork."

"We'll serve it with the desert."

"Gokudera-san, the wine glasses should be at a 450 angle." Riebure produced a fine protractor. "These glasses are of by 0.0040."

"It's not really a problem. The book said there's an allowance of 0.005. What about the waiters?"

"We'll have about 13 on the spot."

"What! Hire another one or transfer one to the restoration section. We can't have 13, that's an unlucky number."

Basil came out of the kitchen with a phone on his hand. "Riebure-dono. The Italian ambassador to Japan couldn't come."

"Lanchia?" asked Riebure, switching to Italian. "And I was looking forward to meeting him. Transfer one of the waiters to the restoration section. What's the progress on the lasagna?"

An explosion was heard from one of the kitchens.

"Oh dear." said Riebure.

"BASIL!" a female chef called from the kitchen. "Did I not tell you to not touch the food?!"

_Back at the Mizuki Residence…_

"Remember the arrangement of utensils alright?" Kenji said as the utensils were put away. "By the way, **Rule #3: Never let silver ware touch the table cloth once it is lifted.**"

"What happens if we do? ~desu." asked Haru.

"Hmm… A Namahage will come and chop of your hand." he joked.

"Really? ~desu." In an instant, Haru transformed from her formal dressing into a Namahage costume.

"Ha-ha-haru." squeaked Tsuna.

"Interesting Tsuna. Very interesting. But of course that was just a joke." He explained. "While the table cloth may look clean, there are several microorganisms like bacteria and fungi that might have been stayed in the table cloth and these might come in contact with the utensils.'

"But, don't the utensils start attached to the table?" pointed Hana.

"Darn, it was a good joke."

Hana sighed.

"Now, waiter. Serve the food."

_At the Vongola estate…_

"Levi, doesn't **Rule#4 say** **you're** **not supposed to start eating until everyone has been served.**" asked Lussuria

"Supposedly that only works if there are six people or less." started Franz "If there are more, you may begin eating if four or five people have been served or if permission has been asked from those not yet served.

"But we're seven so doesn't the latter apply?" retorted Marmon.

"Yes, but it doesn't matter now since we've all been served." Franz explained. "Before we begin with the main course, we shall start with the bread."

Everyone looked at the piece of bread served to them. Each one was given a croissant and a piece of butter was placed near it.

"**Rule#5: Bread should be broken into bite size pieces.**"

"Ushi shi shi. How about we break your bones instead?" Bel threw a knife at Franz and aimed at his arm. Unexpectedly, Franz moved his whole arm upwardsin a split second. He then bent his middle finger and pointer and caught handle of the projectile's handle. A pendulum knife snaked out of the sleeve of his coat and cut the wire that connected Bel to the murder weapon. Finally, the supposed target twisted the knife from pointing at his back to pointing at Bel. He appeared to be aiming it at Bel but instead,

"Thank you for passing the butter knife Bel."

Bel frowned at the remark and remained silent. Franz began using the knife to cut the butter.

"As you eat the pieces, remember to place butter on each one. Don't place butter on the whole slice. Also, butter should be passed and not placed directly on to your bread… Squalo! Stop that."

"Tch." Squalo stopped putting butter into the bread.

"Instead, place the butter on to your butter plate then place that on the bread. Do this now."

The unruly Varia members attempted to do what Franz had commanded. Lussuria did it without difficulty, Squalo would often attempt to directly place butter on the bread and suddenly remember not to do so, Bel sliced the bread pieces in a flash and used his knives to pierce the bread and eat them, Levi couldn't slice his piece, Marmon used his psychic powers to lift the knife and slice the bread in midair and Xanxus didn't even touch it.

_Back at the Mizuki residence…_

"The main course is extremely missing!" pointed Ryohei.

"No, we won't be taking that up since it's going to be a buffet."

"Kenji, some dishes will actually be served."

"In that case, just remember this then. **Rule #6: Dishes are passed from left to right.** Also, they are removed from your right once finished. Now Tsuna, get the salt and pepper."

Tsuna obtained the salt and pepper from the back.

"For those of you who don't know, the salt is the white crystalline powder and the pepper is brown fine powder." Kenji held the two condiments for everyone to see.

"When passing around either the salt or the pepper, remember **Rule#7: These two are married.**"

At the word married, Haru saw her face and Tsuna's in place of the head of the condiment's containers.

"Of course, that is simply an exaggeration. It means that these two must always be passed around together, even if only one of them is needed."

"Hahi."

"What is it Miura-san?" asked Hana.

"Nothing." said Haru as she waved her hands in denial.

"Please practice passing them around together."

The seasonings were passed together just fine, until it came to Ryohei. It had been just passed from Hana and he had been partially distracted, God knew why. The pepper fell and broke, releasing pepper into the room's air. Fortunately, everyone fanned it away from them exept Ryohei who punched at it.

"Onii-chan! Don't inhale it!"

But it was too late. Ryohei inhaled the pepper. He had sneezed so greatly that his chair was moved away from the table.

"Oh dear. Sasagawa-senpai, do you need some assistance?"

Kenji found that the upperclassman boxer was already sleeping with his head directed upwards.

"Kyoko-chan, what happened to onii-san?"

"After an allergy, Onii-chan usually sleeps for a while. He should be awake in time for the party."

"Well then, now we must move on to the next rule. Remember the three glasses we have? **Rule#8: Hold a stemmed glass by the stem.**"

"Why?" asked Chrome.

"It's because this prevents your hand from warming the liquid."

"What happens when the liquid warms?"

"Wine doesn't taste as good when it's warm. If there are no other questions, I'll conclude with the finishing move. Take your main course fork and dinner knife."

Everyone held the utensils mentioned by Kenji.

"Position these like a clock at 4:40."

Once it had been done, "Now that's done, I'll just be getting the plates-"

"Matte. This is a position to say 'I'm not done'. Even the least experienced waiters know that."

"Demo-"

"Ehem. Now position them at 4:20."

"That's-"

"That is the final positioning. Even if there are leftovers, it means to say you're done. Waiter, please collect the plates."

"But there's a lot of them!"

"Just kidding. Everyone, please return the plates to the kitchen sink. Tsuna and I will wash them."

"Arrigato Mizuki-san!" they all said together. One by one, they left for the party to make their final preparations.

When everyone had left, including Tsuna, Kenji had already arranged all the glasswares. Kenji was wearing a grey vest and black suede coat. To hide this, he took a large black cloak that concealed even his bodily features except for the face, which was covered by a hood. The cloak had silver linings and the Chinese symbol for Eye at the back.

"Heh. Time to party."

* * *

**I know I'm slow. I really wanted to have the party during this chapter but I decided that maybe it would be better to have this chapter for some rather corny comic relief. Next chapter will be the party, yeah! **

** Remember! Reviews are highly appreciated. **


	8. Formalities

**Hello everyone. Still here of course with Chapter 8. I'd like to thank my reviewers Blakk Magic (who reviewed Chapter 7 and Chapter 6) and ****3466-0402**** (Who reviewed Chapter 5)**

**Replies: Blakk Magic (On 6): Thank you. Though I might not be able to include Mist Dynamites later. I'll see what I can do. Also I apologize for putting you as 'reviewer' on the previous chapter.**

** (On 7): Again thank you.**

** 3466-0402 (On 5): Yeah, it is rather unintelligent. The idea actually came out of the blue. No worries though, Goku-chan will fix that problem for fighting later.**

**Disclaimer: Akira Amano owns KHR. Not me.**

* * *

Chapter 8

Formalities

_The mighty castle that overlooks the town of Nami…_

_The ancient stronghold of the First…_

_What is behind this enigmatic mansion?_

The setting was faultless. The sea breeze blew gaily at anyone on this tower or at the shore. The estate was surrounded by light forest made of oak and birch. The sky was clear and the sun was about to set in the west, ready to signal the start of the night. The moon was about to rise, bringing with it the stars. The stunning Vongola mansion was set in the outskirts of Namimori, on a plateau overlooking the town at the north but mostly invisible to those below. One could see the ocean from the south through a high stone tower. Gokudera Hayato was on top of this tower. He was observing some weather instruments and had a walkie talkie on one hand while the other fidgeted with the equipment.

"Gokudera-san, no problems here. You?"

"Likewise. We are also on schedule and Coriander's earlier reports on weather patterns and no storm, rain, mist, or cloud will ruin this occasion. The possibility of a thunderstorm is almost zero and the sky will be clear for the next 58 hours. Temperature is just perfect, barometric pressure is normal for this height, no possibilities of earthquakes or tsunamis. We've even consulted top psychics and diviners and I even did tarot card readings with twenty card sets and there were no signs of misfortune. Well, maybe we might break a glass or two but…"

"A GLASS OR TWO?!" Riebure shouted at the walkie talkie. On the other side, Gokudera almost dropped his walkie talkie. Riebure then sighed. "I'll have to reinforce the glass later then. Anything else?"

"None."

"Then keep at it and report to me later."

Iemitsu and his train were the first to arrive at the mansion. Shoichi could not make it because his stomach suddenly worsened. The entrance was made of granite steps that led to two large wooden doors. These doors were open to reveal a young man, about the same age as Tsuna dressed in a robe made of various blue shades and wearing gloves.

"Riebure-kun, how do you do?" Iemitsu greeted the teen.

"External Advisor. Very pleased to meet you sir." He bowed graciously. "I hope you enjoy the evening."

"Thank you Riebure-kun. I'd like you to meet my family." He pointed to Nana. "This is Nana, my wife."

"A pleasure to meet you milady." Riebure bent down asked for her hand, which he promptly kissed.

"Oh my." Nana blushed.

"Milady, I have heard that you have a great interest in cooking." Riebure conveyed. "I have arranged some media in the library for your pleasure while the guests are arriving. Basil!"

Basil came out to greet the guests, dressed in an ivory white suit with a rose and a black vest.

"Basil, please lead the External Advisor's wife to the library. You remember the place I reserved for her, the one at the eastern wing?" Basil nodded.

"Good, now off you go."

"Eh? Honey, why do I have to go?"

"Anou…"

"He'll be giving a lecture on hole digging!" lied Tsuna.

"Hole digging?"

"Ah yes, milady." continued Riebure. "I'm quite sure you won't be having fun with that."

"Digging holes? I don't think that'll be fun." commented Hana. "Could I go with Mrs. Sawada?"

"Could I go too?" asked Katou. "Judging by the size and grandeur of this mansion, I bet the library would be enormous. Don't you think Yamamoto-kun?"

"Tch." was the reply.

"Yamamoto-kun, you're so mean." Katou then stuck her tongue out at him. She then accompanied Hana and Nana.

The four disappeared into the mansion's halls.

"Tsk. Tsk. They'll actually be missing the fun part." said Haru.

"It's dangerous Yamamoto-kun. They don't know."

"Now that the ladies have gone, it shouldn't be a problem now." Riebure pointed. He then pulled a walkie talkie from his pocket.

"Gokudera-san. How are the preparations?"

"We're close. Based on our plans, we are about 80% complete."

"Nani! We aimed for 81% by 5:00 mind you. What happened?"

"Riebure-san. Don't worry. Based on my calculations we'll complete 85% in the next 5 minutes if all goes well. Therefore, we'll actually overtake our target time of completion."

"It better be." He warned.

"Don't worry Riebure-san. Has the Tenth arrived?"

"Nope. Only the external advisor and his family as well as his son's friends who appear to know about the mafia." After that, Riebure heard nothing from the other line. "Eh, Gokudera-san?"

In an instant, Gokudera appeared from the halls of the mansion while carrying a calculator on his hands. He called out to Tsuna, with a big grin on his face.

"Tenth!" waving at Tsuna. "Welcome!"

"Tenth…" Riebure looked at the direction Gokudera was waving and saw that he was waving at Tsuna. Takeshi appeared to be returning the gesture as well. "You mean he's the Tenth?!"

Riebure pointed to Tsuna, bewildered. Most of the crowd nodded.

"Riebure-kun, I'd like you to meet my son, Sawada Tsunayoshi, Vongola Tenth."

Riebure regained his composure and bowed down to Tsuna.

"I apologize for my disrespect Tenth. Welcome."

"Pleased to meet you Riebure-kun."

"Tenth!" grinned Gokudera. "I hope you enjoy the festivities."

"Gokudera-kun! Are you alright?" Tsuna saw that Gokudera had visible eye bags on his pale skin, which appeared to be paler than usual.

"It's nothing Tenth!" Gokudera exclaimed. "I just didn't sleep for the past week and I've only been living on instant noodles but I assure you I'm quite fine!"

Tsuna's eyes widened.

"It's nothing for him Tenth." Riebure added. Tsuna sighed while Riebure looked at Takeshi. The baseball player had chosen a deep blue undercoat with a black necktie and and a dark gray overcoat to match. His clothes were slightly loose and Riebure saw his sleeve drop back to reveal the Rain Vongola Ring.

"Judging from the ring you have, you must be his Rain Guardian."

"Ossu. My name is Yamamoto Takeshi. Ta-ke-shi."

"A pleasure to meet you Yamamoto-san." He shook the hand of the Rain Guardian. "Tenth, I suppose these are your other guardians correct?"

"Hai."

Riebure looked at the three other people. The first was a tanned man, a little older than the Tenth with a scar on his face. He had fierce, determined, grey eyes and dull dirty white hair. He was wearing a black suede suit with a yellow undercoat and a black necktie. Since he had bandages on his hands Riebure could only assume,

"You must be his Sun Guardian then?"

"Sasagawa Ryohei, pleased to meet you to the extreme." Riebure went to shake his hands and as they shook, he was propelled through the air up and down by the strength of the boxer like a bedsheet being dried in the morning sun.

_Such power…_

When the handshaking concluded, Riebure bent down for some time and fanned himself with his hand and shook his temples to reorient himself. He soon regained his confidence and then greeted the guardian beside Sasagawa.

"Greetings. Who might you be?"

Riebure observed the teen to be obviously Japanese, having an ivory white complexion and towering the rest except Takeshi. Not only his vicious violet slits for eyes or his dark hair, but his entire being gave off a harsh aura that seemed to be saying, 'Touch me and I'll bite you to death'. To reply, the teen produced two tonfas from nowhere and let Riebure face the side of one.

"Where is the tournament?" At this, his sleeve slipped partially and revealed the Cloud Vongola Ring. Riebure replied, "Calm down Nuvola. The tournament is later so save you energy until then."

"Hmph." The teen put down his tonfas and made them disappear. "Hibari Kyouya. Nice to meet you, herbivore."

"We'll see then won't we, bloodlusty carnivore?" Riebure taunted. He looked further left and saw a young lady with a skull eye patch on her right eye, the other one was colored purple. She was dressed in a simple indigo cocktail dress with a rare blue rose attached. Her hair was dyed with a strange dark color, a dark purple which made it difficult to tell if it was really black or violet.

"Milady, may I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"

"Chrome. Chrome Dokuro."

"Indigo. That must mean you're his Mist Guardian." Chrome nodded. "Illusionist-san, you don't really need to hide from me."

The Chrome accompanying them disappeared into indigo flames. Riebure heard the door of the limousine click and open to reveal the same girl he saw before. The difference was that her hair was un-tied from the pineapple hairstyle to reveal beautiful purple locks.

"Now, now Lady Mist. I intend no harm to your Family." Riebure reassured. "Why'd you have to spy me through an illusion?"

"How'd you know it was an illusion?" she retorted.

"It was… intuition." He replied. He looked around and saw that one of them was missing. "Tenth, where's your Thunder Guardian?"

"He, two friends and Bianchi-san are playing in the patio." The sound of an explosion spread through the air. The small crowd that had gathered looked to the direction of the north and saw an ash-covered Lambo being carried by Bianchi with Ipin and Fuuta at her side.

"An infant hitman?"

"Gotta… stay… calm…" said Lambo.

"Lambo!" Tsuna rushed towards the infant. "Are you alright?"

"He was playing with grenades again. Normally it would have been alright but he appeared to have bombed some of Hayato's experiments. Speaking of which, where's Hayato?"

It took some time for Gokudera to register that Bianchi had come to the party. He tried to look back but Bianchi had noticed him. Bianchi raised her head and waved to his direction.

_Phew… She's wearing goggles._

"Poison Scorpion!" Riebure waved at Bianchi. Bianchi beamed and waved back. Lambo was being rocked like a baby and began to sleep. Ipin was happily tagging along with Bianchi. She turned to look at the small crowd and saw Hibari. Nine mahjong beads appeared on her rather large forehead.

"The Pinzu Time Bomb!" Tsuna exclaimed. Ipin had begun to attach herself to his leg.

_Pinzu Time Bomb? That's the technique of the infant hitman Ipin_. _That must be her then._

"What's the matter Tsuna?" Takeshi had approached. Ipin now attached to Takeshi

"Takeshi-kun, it's- " Takeshi had held Ipin by the ruff of her martial arts garb.

"A baseball!" Gokudera called. Then Takeshi focused his eyes and aimed at the sky. He shifted into a throwing position but,

"Gokudera, I don't fall for the same trick twice." Takeshi remarked. He then relaxed while Ipin struggled to break free. There were now seven mahjong beads.

"Baseball idiot! That thing's going to explode!"

"Tsuna-san, what's going on?" Haru called.

"What are we going to do?!" Tsuna asked. He held his hands to his temples and began to panic. He then looked at the small crowd and saw the worried faces of Kyoko and Haru. The others were bewildered.

_Wait a minute… That's it!_

"Onii-san! Come here." Tsuna called. The boxer ran down the granite steps carefully and answered the call of the young mob boss.

"Yep?"

"Onii-san. I have a favor to ask." Tsuna pleaded and then pointed to the lovestruck Ipin. "Punch this with your Maximum Ingram."

"Eh? But that's Ipin." He replied.

"But Onii-san, if you don't punch her." persuaded Tsuna. "Kyoko-chan and Kurokawa-san will be placed in danger."

"Kyoko and Kurokawa in danger…" Ryohei clenched his fists. Then he punched at the air. "I, RYOHEI SASAGAWA, WILL PUNCH THIS TO THE EXTREME!"

Takeshi was confused of the request but obeyed and tossed Ipin in front of Ryohei. "Senpai, catch!"

"Maximum…" He focused his strength. "INGRAM!"

Ipin was hit by the awesome punch. She flew out of the air and flew like a bullet into the sky.

Takeshi changed his angle of viewing to the side so that he could see Ipin's flight. "So it really does follow a 'parabolic trajectory'…"

Kyoko and Haru ran down, ready to confront Tsuna for his violent behavior.

"Tsuna-kun, why'd you make onii-chan do that?"

"Kyoko-chan…"

"Tsuna-san." Haru begun to cry, then she shouted at his face. "You meanie!"

"Demo Haru-"

Haru would have slapped Tsuna, if it weren't for Ryohei who stopped her.

"It's all right Miura-san, Kyoko." reassured Ryohei. "I only used the wind to propel Ipin. The force was just enough to make her fly."

"But she's still too close!" pointed Gokudera. "The mansion might still be affected. You chose the wrong arc turf-head!"

"What was that octopus-head?!" The two glared at each other from afar.

"Calm down Ryohei-nii." pleaded Fuuta.

Riebure drew a different walkie talkie from nowhere and pressed a button.

"Coriander!" He shouted. The reply was a yawn. "Chief?"

"Set up the force field." He demanded. "Now!"

"Roger." Riebure put down the device and ordered, "Everyone! Stay on the steps."

After that command, a lightning rod came out from the top of the tower. Green lightning sparked from the rod and in an instant, the entire mansion was covered by an electric field of sorts. Ipin exploded but the explosion never entered the airspace above the mansion.

"The lightning's 'solidifying' attribute solidifies the air. This prevents the entry of any foreign objects and can protect anything within from stones to nuclear weapons." Riebure explained.

"According to my rankings," said Fuuta as he scanned through his ranking book. "The mansion's security ranks second in 'Most likely to survive a Nuclear War'. That's only next to the Area 51 and they're not far off."

"Nuclear weapons?! Why would nuclear weapons attack a small town like Namimori?" Haru asked.

"Ranking?" Riebure thought. Then he exclaimed, "You're Ranking Fuuta?!" The child nodded.

"Gokudera-san, status report."

Tsuna soon noticed that his right-hand man was actually speaking while doing some intense calculations on the calculator, which was actually a palmtop.

"We've beaten expectations. We are currently at 95% to completion and have an extra 15 minutes on schedule. Since 4% is something that we need not worry about, the 1% on your schedule is the remaining problem and that's-"

"The tour." He took out the first walkie talkie and pushed a different button. "Turmeric. Please take over my duties here at the entrance. Also, bring a maid here to help with our injuries."

"You mean Lambo and Ipin?" asked Bianchi.

"Yes." Bianchi and Fuuta went out into the field and found Ipin lying on the grass, knocked out. Bianchi picked her up while Fuuta tagged along. The maid arrived and bowed at Riebure promptly.

"Riebure-sama. You called because of injuries."

"Ah, Nina. Please bring these two to my quarters and watch over them on occasion." He ordered.

"Understood."

"Riebure, if it's not too much I'd like to tag along with them." requested Bianchi.

"Very well Poison Scorpion. Nina, direct her to the dining hall afterwards."

"Understood." She went away along with Bianchi. Then, Turmeric arrived. He had dressed in a classic tuxedo.

"Turmeric, you know what to do. Watch out for the Varia."

Turmeric silently obeyed and went to the door. Takeshi scratched his head.

"Riebure-san. Why'd you greet us in the first place if it was Turmeric's job?"

"I have my reasons. Now, shall we begin the tour?"

Riebure motioned them to follow him with a movement of his hand. As he did so, Takeshi observed a glint of light coming from his sleeve. The group soon followed.

"Not many of you might know this, but the founder of Namimori Town is actually Giotto Vongola, also known as Vongola Primo. It was founded 350 years ago, in the year 1657."

"Why'd he choose Japan out of all places anyway?" asked Gokudera.

"It was recommended to him by his Rain Guardian. Tradition states however that it was not just his Rain Guardian but another friend of his, a direct descendant of Abe no Seimei."

"Abe no Seimei, the legendary onmyoji!" Haru recalled.

"Correct. This friend of his was known as the mythical Moon Guardian."

_Moon…_ Tsuna thought. _Guardian?!_

"I know. It sounds crazy doesn't it?" Riebure chuckledand looked up to . There being another guardian out there. In fact, maybe it's time we sidetracked a bit. Do you know why Giotto fled to Japan?"

"There are many theories, the most acceptable one says that he fled to Japan to produce a neutral faction that would take active participation only when most needed." answered Iemitsu.

"That is one of the reasons, but tradition says that he fled here because he was fleeing from his son and successor, Vongola Secondo."

Tsuna then remembered his conversation with Xanxus during the Sky Ring Battle.

"_Do you know why Primo fled to Japan?"_

"_Huh?"_

"_It was because he was afraid! Afraid that he would have to fight his own successor. Secondo."_

"There is more to the legend. While fleeing to Japan, he left his four remaining guardians, Sun, Storm, Thunder and Cloud maintain their connections with the main family. Mist had already backstabbed him. Rain fled with him back to Japan. Storm was his main informant. But the original family did not just have six, but twelve guardians."

"Twelve…" pondered Haru. "Guardians?"

They had reached a circular room surrounded by thirteen portraits. The first showed a man similar to Gokudera. He had a bow in his hands and had a serious look about him. Next to that was a man similar to Takeshi. He was dressed in traditional Japanese garb and had a flute in his hands. The third was that of a cowardly looking man similar to Adult Lambo. He had a shield in his hands and the green electricity surrounded him. The fourth was a priest. He had a resemblance to Ryohei but instead of the dull grey hair the man in the painting had black hair. The fifth was twisting a pair of handcuffs in his hands. He had a cruel glare and an evil smile. The sixth had some strange device on his hand that looked like a monocle with several lenses. He was seeing through this using his right eye. The seventh was parallel to the entrance. Needless to say, the painting was of Giotto Vongola.

"These portraits are paintings of the first Vongola Guardians. If you look at the right, you'll find the guardians we've known ever since. Storm, the core of every attack. Rain, washes all signs of struggle. Thunder, diffuses all attacks against the family. Sun, who fights with his own body. Cloud, independent and unbound. Mist, the sower of discord. The leader Sky, who embraces them all. These are the Guardians we are all familiar with. Then to your right, we have the mythical guardians. Their existences are so shrouded in mystery that the only portraits we have of them are silhouettes." Riebure then caught his breath. He pointed to the other side of the room. There were paintings there, all of them mere silhouettes.

"Moon, the ever changing protector. Star, the ray of hope. Hail, the unforgiving justice. Snow, the preserver of secrets. Ether, the arbiter of heaven. Gale, the unbound assassin. All these six guardians were said to have openly rebelled against Secondo openly and accompanied Primo to Japan. There, they helped him build this wonderful town."

"So in the end, he had his own happy ending." said Haru.

"Not quite. When Giotto died, his older son claimed the right to become Secondo. The other four who had stayed were executed on the charge of betrayal. With the remaining six, they led an attack against Secondo. This was the first Ring Conflict Tournament. But they failed and all of them were accused of treason. Finally, they were executed. They never got to see the families they had left behind in Japan."

"What about the rings?" asked Gokudera.

"The first six rings which you guardians have now were recovered and passed down. The other six were never found and six guardian slots have been empty ever since. Of course, this is just legend and not all facts may be true."

"But wouldn't it be interesting if it were?" said Kyoko.

"True. Now about the mansion. After Vongola Secondo died, the main family and the branch here in Japan reconciled and have maintained connections since then. They also entered into a contract, I don't think I'd need to explain that part."

"Demo, what's that supposed to mean?" asked Tsuna.

"If no eligible successor is found in Italy, the next Vongola boss would come from Japan."

"Which explains why you were chosen, Tenth. This mansion has been home to the direct descendants of Primo. You lived her for a while didn't you advisor?"

"Yup."

They arrived in another room. There was a giant map there.

"The mansion is state of the art, ten years technologically advanced than the outside world."

"That explains the lightning rods." said Tsuna.

"This mansion is equipped with high-end technology and training rooms, as well as guest rooms and other facilities. In case you were wondering, the money used to build this mansion came from the Guardians of the First. To prevent the tarnishing of his ideals, we have made sure that only clean money is used to improve this mansion."

"No way…"

Riebure looked at his watch. The time was 5:25 "That concludes our tour. We will now be going to the dining hall."

He directed the group to the dining hall where they were greeted by a crowd of guests.

"Enjoy the evening. The program will begin at 6:00. You may do what you like please but do stay in the dining hall until then." With that, Riebure left the guests and went outside the hall while taking out another walkie talkie from his robe.

"Riebure-san must really be proud of this place." said Ryohei.

"Yeah." said Tsuna.

"Tenth, shall we have a seat?" Gokudera pointed to a table with the sign, 'Reserved for the External Advisor'.

"VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOI!" A shout resounded through the hall. Everyone looked at the direction of the sound and saw Superbi Squalo calling the other group.

"Squalo!" Takeshi said rather happily.

"Squalo-san?" whispered Haru to Kyoko.

"Wasn't he the one who sneaked into Choice?"

"He was also Yamamoto-kun's home tutor right?"

"You piece of trash…" In an instant, Squalo jumped to an impossible height and revealed his blade. He proceeded to strike Takeshi. Takeshi rubbed his ring and ignited it. Sparkling blue Rain flames came out of the ring and he formed them into a blade. The flame solidified into a katana. He held the katana with two hands and parried the strike with a defensive stance. Squalo withdrew and pointed his blade downwards

"Tch. How'd you hide the blade?"

"Easy." replied Takeshi. "I converted the blade to water vapor. It materializes when I apply Rain Flames."

"Hmph. I was beginning to think you were getting soft enough not to carry your weapon, considering it is a mafia party."

"Of course not!"

"Everyone." A Pink haired lady came from the southern end of the hall. "Please reserve your energy for the tournament later."

"Shut up lady."

_A Cervello._ Thought Iemitsu.

"If Squalo's here then that must mean…" pondered Ryohei.

"The _others_ are too." Chrome continued.

Sure enough, Xanxus and his train were already at another table at another side of the hall. Lussuria waved at the others. Back at the table, Gokudera sensed a killing intent at his back.

"Hey prince, do you want me to throw a bomb at ya?" warned Gokudera.

"Ushi shi shi. You were never too cautious were you, Gokudera Hayato?" taunted the knife assassin.

"As expected." Meanawhile, Haru whispered to Kyoko.

"Isn't that Bel, the knife guy Tsuna-san told us about?"

Bel heard Haru's whisper and confronted the two ladies,

"Ushi shi shi. Who do we have here?"

"Hahi." Haru eeked.

"Two lovely ladies. Who might you be?" Bel asked.

"Mi-mi-miura. Miura Haru." Haru stammered.

"Sasagawa Kyoko." Unlike Haru, Kyoko introduced herself calmly.

"Ushi shi shi. Pretty late to be acting tough ain't it missy?" said Bel as he drew a set of knives out.

"Leave them alone Bel." warned Tsuna.

"Tch. Whatever you say, Tenth." Bel half-apologized.

"How dare you disrespect the Tenth!" Gokudera drew out a dynamite stick.

"Hmph." Bel went away and returned to his table, along with Marmon. Gokudera calmed down and put away the dynamite stick.

"That's our Tenth!" praised Gokudera.

"As expected of my Tsuna-san!" Haru then proceeded to hug him. "Haru, could you get off?" said Tsuna as he struggled.

"Gomen ne." Haru apologized and got off Tsuna's back. She then smiled back.

"Arrigato, Tsuna-kun." Kyoko blushed slightly as she thanked the upcoming mob boss.

"It-it was nothing Kyoko-chan." Tsuna stammered slightly to reply.

Nina had appeared out of the northern entrance and brought with her Bianchi, Katou, Nana and Hana. Nana had been looking for her husband as soon as she entered. Takeshi raised his hand and waved at them to direct them to the supposed table. Nina went to her own station whereas the four ladies went to the table.

"Attention everyone." Riebure's voice was heard throughout the hall. "The program will begin shortly. Please return to your seats."

The crowd stopped mingling for the time and did as they were told. Xanxus and his train did otherwise and instead went to the stage. The curtains opened to reveal Lussuria, with a wireless microphone in his hand.

"Konbanwa everyone! To begin our show, we're going to have a special presentation!" The stage dimmed. Then lights placed on the edges of the stage brightened and revealed the Varia members including Basil, Turmeric and other male members Iemitsu recognized to be his subordinates from CEDEF. Each performer was dressed in a tube dress held by straps with a frilly skirt at knee length and easy to reach. The music began to play and each performer began to dance. The dance was rather perverse. It consisted mostly of maneuvers to raise the legs and reveal the underwear underneath the dancer.

_What the hell?! _Thought many of the mafiosi.

"That music…" said Kyoko. "It sounds familiar doesn't it Haru-chan?"

"This set-up, that music, their costumes. They must be doing Can-can! ~desu"

Meanwhile, Gokudera had moved from the table to somewhere backstage.

"Riebure-san, how are things on your side of the stage?"

"From this view, the angles of viewing with respect to the audience appear to be set perfectly. The costumes have been made to our exact specifications. Our dancers are trained quite well, they are Varia and CEDEF members after all. There?"

"No problems here."

"Then let's move."

Lussuria danced gaily and did not mind the crowd looking at them. Xanxus' movements were quite stiff and he did not even bend his legs that much. His face remained unemotional for Xanxus was never one to smile, unless of course an enemy was at his mercy. Strangely, he showed no hint of anger about him. Levi imitated Xanxus. Viper, correction, Marmon appeared to be missing from the performance. Maybe he was doing some sort of illusion that hid Xanxus' true face, no one could tell. Bel had some trouble with the steps. A closer inspection revealed that it wasn't just his skill, or lack thereof, but rather because of wires had been accidentally scattered throughout his clothing. Basil appeared to be enjoying himself. His gullibility was quite well known throughout the Vongola. Maybe he had been convinced that this was another one of Japan's local customs or whatnot. He was too enthusiastic and was in fact dancing faster than the rest. Squalo danced the most gracefully of the lot. How was yet another mystery.

"Otou-san, who's that guy to Squalo's left? The one with the blond hair and purple costume."

"Ah, that's Furranzu Riebure. The Pendulum Knight."

"Riebure? How's he related to Furansisu-kun?"

"He's his brother. His older brother."

"Eh?"

"He's also Varia's second in command and Xanxus' right-hand man." supplemented Bianchi.

"Wow. Second-in command." commented Takeshi.

Hibari then added, "He was supposed to be my opponent."

"The Cervello informed me after the ring tournament that Gola Mosca was never the registered Cloud Candidate. Furranzu was." said Xanxus.

"But why wasn't he-"

"Nobody knows. Xanxus says it's top secret information only accessible to the Varia."

"He must be powerful right Kyoya?" a new voice had intruded. Hibari and Tsuna turned around and looked at a young man, slightly older than themselves. He had shoulder length blond hair that covered his ears.

"Dino-san!"

"Hmph. Herbivore."

Dino took an empty seat from a nearby table and placed himself at the back. The show finally ended. A large round of applause sounded as the performers bowed down at the audience. The curtain closed and soon Lussuria reappeared from the curtain without the costume.

"Hope you enjoyed that folks! For our next part, we'll be having the Trivia Contest. If you know the answer come here and if you're right you'll win a prize. If you're wrong, you'll not only embarrass yourself, but you'll also be fined with 100 million yen!"

_What the- _ thought Tsuna.

"Who in their right mind would even answer those questions?" exclaimed Gokudera from the stage.

"Obviously anyone who really knows the answer." Riebure had come from a door backstage and joined the bomber.

"I'm gonna win that prize!" said a determined Haru.

"This'll be easy." boasted Katou.

"Not really Katou-nee. According to my rankings, the Vongola Trivia Contests are the hardest to win."

"Vongola? Isn't that a type of clam? And what's this about rankings?"

"I'm Ranking Fuuta. Fuuta della Stella."

"You lil' bro, who's the new girl? Is she another one of your girlfriends?" asked Dino.

"Eh?!" Tsuna denied the allegation. "She's actually a stalker." He said casually.

"Keep away from her Dino-san." warned Takeshi. Dino was stunned by Takeshi's sudden change in behavior. Katou ignored him and introduced herself to Dino. Then she returned to Fuuta.

"Fuuta-chan, della Stella means 'of the stars' in Italian right? If I didn't know any better, I'd say that I'm surrounded by mafia." Many of the nearby persons cringed.

_Too bad she knows better. _Takeshi deliberated.

"Ok! First Question: **What is Boss Xanxus' Birthday?**"

"Xanxus? That's a lot of X's." commented Hana.

"Isn't X the Roman numeral for tenth?" asked Kyoko. Tsuna shuddered.

"Do you think?"

"Maybe…" Then Kyoko shook her head. "No. I think that is the answer."

"What is it Kyoko-chan?"

"Katou-chan, could you answer for us?

"Eh?" Katou-chan replied. She then raised an eyebrow. Kyoko continued, "I think it's Oct. 10."

"Well if you say so. Besides, that 100 mil yen thing, it's just a joke right?"

"Idiot" Takeshi muttered under his breath. Katou sneezed.

"I heard that Yamamoto." Yamamoto put on his usual warm smile.

"What are you talking about?"

She narrowed her eyes at the baseball player. "Katou-chan, hurry!" said Kyoko. Katou nodded then she ran to the stage before another guest could.

"Hello there young lady! So what do you think is the answer?"

"Oct. 10?" Katou asked unfazed.

"And we have a winner! Now for our next question-"

Before Lussuria could finish, the lights suddenly went out.

* * *

** Call it a failed attempt at making a cliffy. Anyway I wanted to make this chapter longer but I didn't have the time. And about Furranzu, it's just a coincidence that his weapon is the same as Lyserg Diethel (You know, Shaman King). Then again maybe not. But I did give a different reason to why he's called Pendulum Knight. So, no crossovers here, yet. **

** I also apologize if Squalo's Vroi didn't come out. Must be a bug in the upload or something. Remember, review. No flames please. See ya next time! **


	9. Hitsuji Masato

**Hello everyone! I'm back, with yet another Chapter. The party's been suspended until next chapter because now I'll be introducing someone. **

* * *

Chapter 9

Hitsuji Masato

_All I ever wanted was to see it…_

_The beautiful school it once was…_

_How can that dream be now?_

_Why?_

Hitsuji Masato was nothing special. He was pretty good looking for his age. He had auburn hair that waved beautifully even though it wasn't held by hair gel. He was pretty smart and belonged to the honor's class of Kokuyo and also the youngest student council president, being a mere first year. He also excelled in a lot of sports including karate, basketball and tennis. He was pretty muscular and would have been admired by many of the girls in Kokuyo, if it weren't for his personality.

Kokuyo was once a beautiful school. But over the years, the school became overrun by bullies and mediocre staff. The principal enforced rules with a rather lax method. It was bullies, not the staff who ruled the school. They did it through bribes, otherwise by force. Graffiti littered the hallways. Stealing was quite normal. Punishments were not done to violators but instead to innocent students. Nobody really cared, except Hitsuji.

What kept him going? He believed in something called the broken window glass theory. When a single window glass is broken and left alone it is said to invite many more problems and eventually dire consequences. Turned around, taking care of the smaller crimes also means the prevention of the larger ones. Hitsuji was quite impressed when he heard of this theory.

Hitsuji's friends thought it was a good idea at first, but as soon as half the year passed they had all left. Except one, the vice president.

Hitsuji sat at the chair, daydreaming apparently. He awoke with a start when his vice president, Kabane, opened the door. Kabane was panting at the door and bent down in exhaustion.

"I'm sorry president, homeroom was longer than I expected." He said through his short breaths. Kabane bowed apologetically at his superior.

"That's alright. I just came in too." Masato smiled warmly at his junior. "But you shouldn't be running around the halls even if you are in a hurry. We should be cautioning others not to break small rules like that."

"I'm sorry."

"Fix your hair, it's like your bed head."

"My hair? But that's my hairstyle!" exclaimed Kabane. "Wait a minute, that doesn't have anything to do with the rules!"

"Hahaha..." Hitsuji guffawed while Kabane pouted his lips. Straightening up, he apologized. Kabane was often the target of his pranks.

"Well then, let's go."

Kabane obtained a partially rusted bucket half-filled with water and two rags. He gave one to Hitsuji as they walked. They began their work near the Treasurer's office, which had been left abandoned for years. The floor of its oak door was littered with broken glass and the handle was long gone. The walls near the office we're covered with so much graffiti that the original wall was almost impossible to see.

As Kabane and Hitsuji scrubbed, Kabane removed the sweat of his forehead with his left wrist and complained, "This doesn't come off easily."

Hitsuji nodded while continuing to scrub, "Yeah." He then smiled at Kabane. "But let's work hard."

Kabane continued scrubbing. "It would be so much better if there were more people to help."

Hitsuji replied with silence. He entered in deep thought and remembered his long gone friend. He was only 12 when he met that teen.

"Ta-nii! Wait for me!" called out a younger boy as he chased the middle schooler. He was almost an exact replica the teen he chased, except he was shorter and his hair was worn in a different style. The teen he called waved back and waited for the younger kid to meet up with him. Soon, the two walked beside each other. Hitsuji marvelled at the sight. He chased pair as they walked in the sunset. He called out,

"Sumimasen!"

The pair of brothers replied by looking back.

"Umm…" Hitsuji looked at the older one. "Onii-chan. Aren't you Ta-kun from Kokuyo Middle?"

The older teen grinned. "Yup! How could I help you…"

Hitsuji realized the absurdity of his action and bowed down ashamed. "Ma-ma-sa-to. Masato Hitsuji."

"Yes, Masato-kun?"

"Umm… Ta-nii, you're really a legend at our school and I was won-" then Hitsuji sneezed. While Ta-kun jumped back slightly. "Go-gomen nasai."

Ta-kun brushed it off. "Now, now. Don't be shy. Now, how could I help you?"

Hitsuji raised his head slightly, but did not make eye contact.

"Could…" His voice trailed off. "Could I have an autograph please?"

Ta-kun sighed.

"Don't be rude onii-chan." commented his brother. "Just because you're student council president and Kokuyo's ace at first year doesn't mean you can ignore an elementary student."

"True." Ta-kun changed his face and smirked. He took out a shuttlecock from his bag and signed the cap with his signature.

"Here you kid." Ta-kun tossed the shuttlecock. Hitsuji cupped his hands and caught it as the adolescent looked away.

"Kid, I might look great and all but…" Then he looked back for one last time. "Don't follow me. You'll get hurt later on, understand?"

Hitsuji did not move, he stared as the pair walked on. It was only until a car beeped that he finally steered and looked back to walk home.

"President?" Kabane called. Hitsuji awakened from the daydream. He did it a lot more than often these days.

"I'm sorry. I think I've said something unnecessary."

"No, don't worry about it." Hitsuji continued scrubbing. "Let's finish before lunch,"

Kabane squinted at Hitsuji. Then he turned serious.

"President, there's something I wanted to ask you."

"Eh?"

"But…" He looked at him "How can you continue like this?" Hitsuji became puzzled.

"Oh, I'm sorry if intimidated you but I really don't understand how you can be so strong."

"Strong? Hell no. I did take karate lessons in elementary but that's nothing I can be proud of."

"It's not that!"

Kabane looked at Masato in the eye worriedly.

"If it was me, I would have given up and gone with the flow. The graffiti won't go away, the garbage stays there, the people who did it don't feel guilty, innocent people are punished and except for us no one gives a damn. I've always wondered if it wasn't too tough for you."

He smiled faintly at his companion. He was touched by the concern he showed.

"You know…" Hitsuji began to reflect. "Could you listen to my story?"

"…eh?"

"There was an upperclassmen in our neighborhood. I used to call him Ta-kun."

Kabane refused to stir. He listened intently.

"He was polite, clever and striking. He was the leader of the kids in the neighborhood and was the president of the student council. When I was in elementary, we took a field trip for the possible middle schools we'd go to when we'd graduate. I chose this school because when we visited here, Kokuyo was different. Everyone was nice, there were no graffiti, garbage or rule breakers."

"President…" Kanabe then imagined how shocked the president must have been when he saw how the school changed.

"Kabane-kun?"

"I understand how you feel president since…" His cheeks flushed with red. "I admire you."

Being thoroughly embarrassed, he tried to hide it by scrubbing.

"Thanks, Kanabe-kun."

"Aww… That was so sappy. Hitsuji."

Their scrubbing was interrupted by a group of five delinquents.

"Yaginuma."

Yaginuma sighed. Hitsuji's face became unwelcoming. There is a saying that tells people the German knows the way yet he asks for direction. Hitsuji may have not known the saying but he was certain of the answer, verbally and mentally, that he would receive. Nevertheless, he asked.

"Is there anything you want with me?"

The leader of the delinquents rubbed his chin with his right hand and pouted. "Oh, nothing really. More like…"

Hitsuji was a black belt. Even higher than Yaginuma's white. It was a simple matter for him to react with a simple block or dodge. What held him back was more powerful than his own karate training or his fear. It was his kindness. Yaginuma kicked him in the stomach. Hitsuji winced in pain.

"People like you piss me off. You think you're the only one who's doing good around here?" He intimidated. "Stop it. It's useless"

"It's… not…"

Hitsuji was kicked again. Much harder than before.

"Coward. You're angry aren't you? Then fight me!"

"I… never… use… violence."

With one last kick, Yaginuma spat at him.

"This is pointless. I'm about to have a fight so I'm not gonna waste my time with some loser like you."

With that the delinquents walked away but Hitsuji held Yaginuma's foot fast.

"You said… a fight…"

Yaginuma wiggled his foot out. With the little respect he held for his former colleague, he held his ground but did not look back."

"Yeah. Some newcomers. Bah, I'll show them who's boss."

Masato thought, he must mean those three.

"No matter how bad they are, we have the advantage of numbers."

"Stop Yaginuma! Why do you need to do that?" Yaginuma smirked.

"Shut up. If you say another word, I'll really kill you." Kabane gulped.

With one last glare and laugh, the group left.

"President, are you alright?" Kabane asked.

"We need to stop them." Resolution flowed through Hitsuji's eyes. Slowly, he stood up along with Kabane. Looking at him,

"We can't let them fight!"

Maybe that was the source of the misfortune. There is an urban legend that says Kokuyo Land was a sacred place in Namimori. Protests were made upon construction and half of the construction workers died. The steel often rusted, scientists at the time concluded that it was due to some strange weather phenomena. Reports of disease and sudden frostbite plagued the workers who survived. The project was nevertheless finished, but it lasted for quite a short time. Maybe if this place hadn't been built, maybe misfortune never would have happened.

"Go home Kabane, this is no place for you."

"But President…" Kabane trembled, "You're hurt. I can't sit still if something happens to you."

"Kabane-kun…"

"Besides President, I thought you said we should start small."

"True. But I can't let a fight happen. It's worse to know that's something is going to happen and you know you could've stopped it. Now you wait here, I'm going alone."

"But I'm going!"

"No Kabane-kun. Stay here."

"O-okay."

Hitsuji closed his eyes. He took a deep breath while turning around. He opened his eyes and walked to the inside of the forsaken park, leaving a worried Kabane behind.

He walked to the inside of the building. Rubble littered the interior, so did broken glass. He looked at the dusted floor and saw several pairs of footsteps. Then,

"Argh!"

He heard a scream from upstairs. Not just of one, but of many familiar voices. Desperately, he ran upwards. Then, he came to a dark room with very little light. There, he witnessed hell before his very eyes.

"Kufufufu. What will you do now?"

He looked to his right and there he saw Yaginuma and his train on the ground covered with blood, bruises and the occasional footmark. Hitsuji could have sworn that one of them had a complex fracture and white bone pierced through his skin. Standing on the train was Jyoshima Ken and Kakimoto Chikusa, who had no intention of ending the torture.

Without much thought, Hitsuji bent down with his hands flat on the ground.

"Please…" he begged. "Stop this."

"Why would you want do something for them?"

"They aren't just people. They're friends."

"Kufufufu. If they're really you're friends, why can't you fight to protect them?"

"I-"

"Gah!" Before Hitsuji could finish, Yaginuma screamed. Hitsuji turned to the right and saw Yaginuma heavily covered in blood.

"Please stop…" Yaginuma begged. Impossible to subdue with words, the leader of the punks was easily subdued by violence.

"What will you do? Kufufufu."

Then, something else added to his torment.

"Hey Kaki-P! Take a look at this!" Ken called out. There, he held Kabane by the collar of his coat.

"Kabane-kun!"

"I- I'm sorry president…" Kabane said, downcast. "But… I was worried."

"He was hiding behind the pillar over there. Now, what should I do with him?" Like a predator sampling his prey, he licked Kabane's cheek.

"Stop that!"

"Why should I? The only person who can command me is…" The hunter looked at Mukuro. "Mukuro-sama."

"I-"

Hitsuji was trapped in an inescapable matrix.

"I-" What should I do?

"Hey Kaki-P, could I eat him?"

"Don't ask me."

"Mukuro-san?"

"Have it your way then."

"In that case…" He opened his mouth to reveal fangs and he smacked his lips. "Itadakimasu!"

"Stop it!" Hitsuji shouted. Without thinking, he ran towards the offender. Upon reaching him, he drew back, his rather obvious anger hidden by his bangs.

"Wha-"

Hitsuji clenched his fist and drew it back to waist level.

BAM! Hitsuji punched Jyoshima's face with such force and he let go of Kabane. Jyoshima bled and one of his teeth fell on the concrete. Kabane had fainted earlier when Jyoshima was about to 'eat' him.

Still unable to think, Hitsuji turned and ran towards Kakimoto. He tried the same strategy against him, but it proved to be futile, for Kakimoto just dodged. Unexpectedly, Hitsuji let out a karate kick and hit Kakimoto's chest squarely and he was blown away by the force. Next was Mukuro. But by the time he finished with Kakimoto, Mukuro had disappeared. Then, he realized his wrong doing. He had used violence. There he fainted, on the spot.

Hitsuji awoke when blinding sunlight tried to pry his eyelids. He felt the concrete on his back and used it to sit up. Looking at his left he, saw Kabane sleeping but at the same time trembling. Then to his left, he saw Yaginuma and his gang, still bleeding and desperately grasping for air.

"Yaginuma!"

"Hey, Masato."

Then Kabane also awoke, "President!"

"Kabane-kun! Are you alright?"

Kabane nodded. Hitsuji took out his cell phone and dialed an ambulance on the spot. The receiver was hesitant, considering that it was the Kokuyo Land area. Finally, she gave in and sent an ambulance. The white van arrived in a matter of minutes and quickly treated them with first aid. The driver called more cars to escort the twenty-three injured students. By the end of two hours, everyone injured was sent to the hospital.

"Kabane, are you sure you can go home on your own?" Hitsuji asked. "My house is kind of in the other direction."

"Sure I can!" Kabane said rather happily.

"Well then. See ya later!"

"See ya!" Kabane waved. Hitsuji wondered how someone who could've been eaten earlier had an enthusiastic disposition now. Wait a minute, however did Jyoshima get those teeth?

He arrived at home a little past curfew. His father and older brother, Kazuki, were watching a report on the incident earlier.

"Thirty students from Kokuyo High were brutally attacked near noon today."

The TV screen then showed the faces of Kabane and Hitsuji. Kazuki and his father looked behind the couch, only to find Hitsuji gone and hearing the slight sound of his room door closing from above.

Hitsuji was on his bed, reflecting on the day's happenings. Violence. It was what he had sworn his entire life to never use. Yet today, his friend was threatened yet words alone could not have saved Kabane. Then, he heard a knock on his door.

"It's open." The door opened to reveal Kazuki, distraught over his little brother's plight. "Nii-san."

Kazuki took a seat on the study table in front of the bed. Hitsuji had also sat up.

"Hitsuji." Kazuki narrowed his eyes on his little brother. "Were you the one who beat those guys up?"

"No, nii-san." Hitsuji shook his head while not making eye contact with the older man.

"Well, why are you worried?"

"It's because..." Hitsuji found it hard to say. "I- I used violence."

Kazuki replied with a sigh. Their father soon called from outside."Kazuki! Hitsuji! Dinner!"

Hitsuji lazily made slight eye contact with Kazuki while retaining a large frown on his head. "Tell otou-san I'm not hungry."

"Suit yourself then." Kazuki stood up and made his way out of the bedroom door. Before he finally twisted the doorknob, he said. "But, would you rather see a friend die than sacrifice your piteous ideals?"

"I-" Kazuki had already left. "I... don't know nii-san."

The first time Hitsuji had used violence was when he was in third grade. The main reason he did not go to dinner was not because he did not want to be scolded by his father. The main reason was he did not want to be praised by his father, whatever his interpretation of the situation was. When Hitsuji was young, his father forced him to attend karate lessons because he was physically weak. One day, he punched his practice partner's face. He never forgot the feeling. It was the feeling of punching something the same as himself, his own flesh and blood punching against another's. After that, he realized the existence of the beast inside him. A mostly unknown beast created from violence. When he had punched his partner's face, his beast took over and he fought every other student in the room. He would have been severely reprimanded, if he had not punched himself to unconsciousness once he realized what he had done before the teacher came in from hi bathroom break. The teacher just assumed it to be some sort of small fight. That is why he promised himself never to use violence unless the beast inside him would come out and take over.

The Kokuyo middle president had already changed from his uniform into a pair of pajamas. Unlike most kids of his age, he could not sleep without a nightcap and had a varied collection of them. The collection's main purpose was to hide his bloodstained fourth grade karate uniform, which also resulted from his beast when Yaginuma was bullied by some high school students. He had not found the time to burn the uniform and Yaginuma thanked him by giving him his spare. His room was themed purple with a lavender bed and beddings and the only thing that was white and grey in his room was his study desk.

Hitsuji tossed in his sleep. Needless to say, he was trapped in some sort of nightmare.

Hitsuji was in a barren and chaotic landscape. The sky was purple yet clear. The ground he was standing on was made of violet rock of differing shades and tints. It was relatively level yet very hard. There was nothing in sight neither plant nor animal or human being. That was, until something called him.

"Hello, Hitsuji." Intrigued and partially frightened of the new voice, he turned to the direction of its source which was to say directly behind him. The owner of the voice was strangely similar to himself. At least in form, for the figure was an exact copy of him except that his hair and clothes were made of variations of purple ranging from lilac to violet.

"Who are you?" The figure grinned and squinted his eyes.

"I am who you call…" The figure clapped his hands together, which made purple sparks fly from them. The hands then burned with purple flame. He separated them and midway twisted both wrists so that both palms faced outward. Meanwhile, the flame followed his hands but stayed between them. The flame soon stopped and solidified and turned into a long sword. The blade was straight and had a darker grey hilt. The figure dropped his left hand and used his right to make a grip on the handle. He then pointed the blade at Hitsuji. "…The Beast."

"Beast?"

"Do you remember in third grade? When you punched your practice partner right in the face?" The Beast asked.

Hitsuji looked away, disgusted.

"The first time I used violence."

"Do you not realize that if you had not done that, that girl might've been harmed?"

"You mean, her?"

"Yes. If I recall correctly, your practice partner was planning to do something to her."

Hitsuji then remembered. He did have, though a rather shallow reason, to do _that_.

"But I could've stopped him with words."

"You're all talk Hitsuji. Like it or not you weren't meant to be a politician or pacifier. You were destined to be a fighter."

_But, would you rather see a friend die than sacrifice your piteous ideals? _Kazuki's words echoed through his head. Or rather, the projection of it since it was his dream after all.

"If you won't fight, I will. Do you understand?" He stabbed in the air at the unarmed man.

"No." Hitsuji shook his head. "We don't need to be violent. There's no need for senseless fighting."

The Beast lowered his sword. "Suit yourself. But my awakening will be coming Hitsuji. It's up to you now."

The dream faded away and he found himself sitting in his office at Kokuyo Middle.

"Was it a dream?" He looked at the calendar. One day had passed from the incident. Someone knocked on the door. Hitsuji let the person and it revealed Kabane, worried.

"President. You're finally out of your trance."

"Trance?"

"Yeah. You were brought here by your brother. You were really in some sort of trance and were excused from classes for the rest of the day."

"I see." The President closed his eyes and said, "Hey Kabane."

"Yes President?"

"Did you tell anyone about what happened yesterday?"

"No."

"Phew." Yesterday could easily be forgotten. It was an accident. Never in his whole life would he ever use violence again. Or so he thought.

"Hey, Hitsuji." piped a familiar tone. There was only one person in all of Kokuyo who was able to call him with such a voice. Though they were familiar with each other, rarely did Yaginuma call him by his first name unless it was one very serious matter. The so called ruler of Kokuyo was wrapped in bandages and his face was swollen. Even one of his right eye was covered in an eyepatch.

"Yaginuma."

"Come with me." He ordered. He kept his hands to his pockets, trying to retain what was left of his so called image. With that, he left the office.

"Kabane-kun. Stay here." Hitsuji in turn commanded to which Kabane replied with a nod. Hitsuji did not see Yaginuma at the hallway though given the seriousness of the situation he could tell that his intended location was the rooftop. Hitsuji followed him there and there he saw the one who called him. Yaginuma was at one of the railings silently looking up to the great blue sky with his arms folded.

"Yaginuma, you called me."

"You've disappointed me Hitsuji."

"Eh? How come?"

"When you became president, I really thought you'd change."

"You haven't changed either, Yaginuma."

* * *

**I apologize for the late update. I might change my schedule to monthly. This chapter's a little cut because I couldn't think of a continuation to be honest. In case you're confused, this takes place a little after Mukuro's escape. **

**Don't be mistaken. Hitsuji is not an OC of my creation. He is in fact a character of the Hidden Bullet Series (A Light novel series for KHR). Some the facts were changed slightly. The story is the same.**

**Thank you Darkboulette for posting and shiroro for translating this.**


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